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INDIA IMPRESSIONS 




THE MAUIKARNIKA GHAT 
BENABES 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

WITH SOME NOTES OF CEYLON 
DURING A WINTER TOUR, 1906-7 
BY WALTER CRANE, R.W. S. WITH 
A FRONTISPIECE IN COLOUR AND 
NUMEROUS OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 
FROM SKETCHES BY THE AUTHOR 



NEW YORK 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1907 






y/S^i^ft 



^/ 



TO MY WIFE 
MY TRAVELLING COMPANION 
ON THIS TOUR, AND TO WHOM 
THE PROJECT WAS DUE, I 
NOW INSCRIBE ITS RECORD 






PREFACE 

A LTHOUGH many books descriptive of India 
and Indian life have recently appeared, even 
a short visit to that wonderful country presents so 
extraordinary a series of spectacles to the European, 
especially to one seeing the East for the first time, 
that it occurred to me that a few notes and fresh 
impressions from an artist's point of view, accom- 
panied by sketches made on the spot, as well as 
illustrations of the lighter side of travel, might not 
be without interest to the public. 

Even apart from the enormous artistic interest 
and architectural splendours of India, which are so 
rich and abundant that one feels that hundreds of 
drawings would be necessary to give any adequate 
idea of their beauty, there is the human interest 
of these vast populations, among whom so many 
streams of race, language and religion are found, 
not to speak of the problems of government and 
administration they present. 

I cannot claim to have had any special facilities 
in seeing the country — no more at least than might 
be at the command of an ordinary English tourist, 
and have trusted chiefly to what powers of observa- 



viii INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

tion I may possess in describing the various cities 
visited, and the districts traversed, and I offer these 
notes strictly as personal impressions. 

Owing to ever increasing facilities of travel, the 
East is, in a sense, drawn nearer to the West, or, 
rather the West to the East, but nothing strikes the 
traveller so much as the apparently vast gulf 
dividing the dark-skinned races from the w^hite — a 
gulf deeper and wider than the oceans. 

I mean the profound differences in ideas, in 
religion, in sentiment, in life, habit and custom. 
Western influence where even it has had any 
apparent effect — apart from commercial enterprise — 
seems to be but a thin veneer, and it is a constant 
wonder how the British should have been able to 
acquire and maintain their grasp over this vast 
peninsular, and to hold the balance between 
antagonistic races and creeds so long. 

But it is not a comfortable thought for an 
Englishman, loving freedom, and accustomed to the 
principles of popular and representative government 
at home, to realise that this vast empire is held 
under the strictest autocratic system ; and that the 
national aspirations that are now beginning to 
make themselves heard and felt should be entirely 
ignored, and the voice of native feeling sternly 
suppressed. 

One can only hope that the great British people 
will take more trouble to study and understand 
their great Dependency, and not be prevented by 



PREFACE ix 

official explanations from making independent 
inquiries and observations for themselves, and 
finally to "be just and fear not." 

If, however, in any way and from any point of 
view, these impressions may serve, in however 
slight a degree, to increase the interest of my own 
countrymen and women in India, I shall be very 
glad. 

WALTER CRANE 
Kensington, /z^/j/ 1907 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 






Preface 


I. 


The Voyage 


II. 


Bombay and the Caves of Ellora 


III. 


Ahmedabad 


IV. 


Ahmedabad to Ajmir . 


V. 


Chitorgarh and Udaipur 


VI. 


Jaipur .... 


VII. 


Agra .... 


VIII. 


GWALIOR 


IX. 


Delhi .... 


X. 


Amritzar and Lahore . 


XL 


LUCKNOW 


XII. 


Benares 


XIII. 


Calcutta — Darjeeling 


XIV. 


Madras and the South 


XV. 


Notes of Ceylon 



PAGE 

vii 



21 

48 

62 

74 
96 
112 
127 
144 
161 

185 
200 
218 

239 

290 



Index 



310 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN 
THE TEXT 

Rough Sketch Map of India. 

London to Port Said, a Hieroglyphic of our 
Voyage ..... 

Coaling at Port Said — and after ! . 

Spoiling the Egyptians ? or being Despoiled by 
Them! ..... 

Sensation in Solar Topis 

The Suez Canal .... 

The Passage of the Red Sea (Therm : 88° or so ! 

In the same Boat — a Contrast at Aden 

Some Types among our Fellow Passengers 

Landing at Bombay .... 

Awaiting the Customs — Bombay 

Street Performers — Bombay . 

Interview with Candidates for the Post of Bearer 
— mostly unbearable ! . 

A Bed at the Dak Bungalow ! Munmad (keep it 
Da(r)k ..... 

We are introduced to the Caves of Ellora 
And its Wasps ..... 
The Feet of Pilgrims (at Mohammedan Mosques) 
Poor Relations .... 

A Family Party — Cranes on a Mango Tree (Sar 
BARMATi River) .... 

Street Scene, Ahmedabad. English Travellers 
sketching and making Purchases 

The Camel's Crinoline (Sugar Cane) Ajmir 



PAGE 

xvi 

3 
6 

7 
7 
9 

12 

14 
17 

22 

2.3 
24 

31 

35 
39 
42 

. 5° 

52 

54 

57 
71 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Xlll 



First Elephant Ride. (Chitorgarh) 

Rajputs and their Rarities. (Udaipur) 

Hotel Accommodation (Jaipur), " for your Ease 

AND Comfort" (or rather for the Easing of 

YOUR Rupees?) . . " . 

To Amber on an Elephant . 

Shopping in Jaipur . . . 

Aggravating Agra 

The Mainstay of India. Aquarius — the Water 

BEARER 

To Gwalior Fort by Palanquin 

Callers at the Guest House, Gwalior 

A Dash for the Dining-car at Agra Road 

Delhi Driving. Wanted — a Rule of the Road 

She won't be Happy till She gets Everything 
packed up . 

Demon Hotel Touts at Amritzar fighting for 
their Prey 

Through Amritzar — sit tight and hold a Smelling 
Bottle ! . 

An Indian Autolycus . 

Enjoying a Log Fire at Lahore 

"The Woman in White" at Lahore (Suggestion 
for a Disguise Party) 

The Merchants of Kashmir . 

In Hospital, Lucknow. The Operating Table 
(Patient had a Bit of Grit in her Eye after 
a Train Journey) — Sixteen Rupees were ex- 
tracted ! . 

Jugglers at Lucknow — the Mango Tree Trick 

Better Luck at Lucknow — through the Chowk 
ON an Elephant ..... 

The Maharajah places his Carriage at our 
Disposal ...... 



PAGE 
78 

85 



98 
106 

119 
129 

137 
146 

159 
162 
163 

165 
168 

172 

182 



186 
187 

195 
202 



xiv INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

PAGE 

Benares : viewing the Ghats from the Maharajah's 

Peacock Boat ..... 207 

We see Snakes at Benares .... 209 

The Maharajah's Reception, decorating the 

Visitors . . . . . .214 

The Soothsayer at Calcutta — (or Palmistry under 

THE Palms) . . . . .220 

The Darjeeling Toy-Railway trying to catch its 

OWN Tail ! . . . . . . 225 

Characters in a Tibetan Masque, Darjeeling . 228 

The shy Peak of Kinchin Junga . . . 233 

A Ride at Darjeeling: "up Hill spare Me" . 234 

A Hailstone Chorus — Departure from Darjeeling 236 

Calcutta to Madras — Section of Sleeper — or 

Something like It .... 240 

Ladies or Gentlemen ? (Fashions in Southern 

India) ...... 243 

Madras — a Jin-rickshaw made for Two . . 250 

Tanjore — Native Theatre — House full. Perform- 
ance from 9 p.m. till 2 a.m.^but We didn't 
stop to see It through .... 265 

Trichinopoly — Ox Tonga — Vita Brevis ! . . 271 

The Sacred Elephants of Seringham — securing 

Two- Anna Pieces . . . . .274 

The Rivals. Our Moonsawmy and the Madura 

Guide . . . . . .277 

TuTicoRiN. Departure for Colombo. The Last of 

THE Kites and Crows . . . ,287 

Landing at Colombo ..... 291 

Common Objects of Colombo. (Jin-rickshawus 

BiPEDEs) ...... 293 

A Cingalese Waiter ..... 294 

In Ceylon — ^Extremes meet — the Motor and the 

Ox-cart . . . . . . 296 



LIST OF PLATES xv 



PAGE 



Tea Plantation, Ceylon .... 303 

Tea and Rubber in Ceylon — a rising Industry . 309 

A FEW Trifles the Wife wished to bring Home 

FROM India . . . . .316 



LIST OF PLATES 

The Manikarnika Ghat, Benares . . Frontispiece 

TO FACE PAGE 

The Kylas, Caves of Ellora , . .38 

Arrival of Mr Dadabhai Naoroji at Bombay, 

December 14, 1906 . . . .46 

Tomb of Gunj Baksh, Sarkhei . . . 58 "^ 

Shrine of the Kwaja, Ajmir . . . . 66 ^ 

The Maharajah's Palace at Udaipur, from the 

Jagmandir Pavilion . . . .88 

The Maharajah's State Elephant, Jaipur . .102 

The Taj Mahal, from the Gateway . . 116 

In the Bazaar, Gwalior .... 134 

Approach to the Palace of Man Mandir, Gwalior 138 

The Jama Musjid Mosque, Delhi . . . 152 • 

Lahore — The Mosque of Waza Khan . . 182 /' 

Irrigation Well, Lucknow . . . . 196 / 

Kinchin Junga from Darjeeling . . . 232 ^ 

Tanjore — The Great Gate of the Temple . 254 

Sacred Tank of the Great Temple, Madura . 282 . 

Under the Palms at the Galle Face, Ceylon . 292 . 



AP<;hANi«TaN//-~/ — Vy KAi H M l l^ 




INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



CHAPTER I 

THE VOYAGE 

A VISIT to India and the East had long been 
-^^^ a cherished but somewhat vagfue dream with 
us. It seemed a far cry, and to make a break 
of a few months in the midst of the occupations 
of a busy Hfe is always a difficult matter. The 
impossible, however, became in course of time 
possible, and even practicable. Inquiries as to 
ways and means had the effect of clearing our 
path ; and having the will, the way was soon 
discovered. 

"Only sixteen days to Bombay!" our Indian 
friends in London told us, and they were always 
urging us to go and see their wonderful country 
for ourselves. Mr Romesh Dutt and Dr Mulich 
had been visitors at our house. The former 
had presented his interesting translation of the 
" Ramayana," illustrated by Miss Hardy, to my 
wife. Besides these we had from time to time 
made the acquaintance of several native gentle- 
men in London who were reading for the Indian 
Bar. They came and went, but all were earnest 
in their hope that we should visit India, and I 
think that they had discovered our sympathies were 



2 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

with those of their countrymen in their aspirations to 
participate in the administration of the affairs of 
their own country. 

The decisive step of booking our passage was 
at last taken in the summer of 1906, and the 19th 
day of November following saw us en route for 
Marseilles, where we committed ourselves to the 
care of the Messageries Maritime, and embarked 
on the S.S. "La Nera" in due course, putting to 
sea on Wednesday, the 21st November. 

It was a lovely bright afternoon as we left the 
port, the southern sunshine flooding everything in 
eolden lipfht. It is a wonderful moment when the 
ship casts off The great liner, which had seemed 
a part of the land itself while the stream of 
passengers passed up the gangways, and their 
baggage after them, begins to throb with life and 
movement — to tremble, as it were, with expectation 
of departure. As a swimmer about to take the 
water casts off all impedimenta, so the ship casts off 
her cables and all that links her to the shore, and 
glides off into the great blue deep, breasting the 
waves of the vast open sea. Incredibly fast as the 
engines beat the solid land fades away. The domes 
and towers and chimneys silhouetted against the 
bright sky, the people on the quays, the ships 
riding at anchor, the tossing harbour buoys, the 
small sailing craft flitting about, all are rolled by as 
on the canvas of a moving diorama, as the steamer 
clears the port, and all detail becomes merged and 
lost under the bold main outlines of the rocky 
coast, or the dim shapes of the distant mountains. 

As the long shining wake increases astern and 



THE VOYAGE 3 

the coast recedes, those nautical camp-followers 
the gulls, which have pursued the ship from the 
harbour, begin to diminish their numbers, though 

ENQLAtJD 




LONDON TO PORT SAID, A HIEROGLYPHIC OF OUR VOYAGE 

they wing a long way out to sea, attracted by the 
crumbs which occasionally fall from the region of 
the cook's galley. 

A glorious sunset Inaugurated our first night at 
sea — of the order of the Golden Fleece, as it might 



4 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

be called — a distinct type, when in a windless sky a 
large field of delicate fleecy cirrus cloud spreads in 
a level field from west to east, and as the sun sinks its 
under edges are lighted up by golden light, changing 
to orange, scarlet, and crimson, when he disappears 
beneath the horizon. So our vo3^age began pro- 
pitiously, and with a smooth sea. Early the next 
morning we passed through the Straits of Bonifazio, 
between Corsica and Sardinia, the coasts of which 
we had a glimpse of through our port-hole, and 
on the morning of the third day, after a little 
tossing, we sighted Sicily, passing Scylla and 
Charybdis at the entrance of the straits, and close 
to Messina. Etna soon came into view, its summit 
covered with a crown of snow (as we had seen it 
on our visit to Taormina in 1904). 

The Calabrian coast, too, was very interesting, 
the mountains of striking form, and the lines very 
varied all along to Cape Spartivento — the toe of the 
boot-shaped continent of Italy. We could see the 
little white towns along the coast and among the 
hills, and the monasteries perched high upon crags. 
Etna gradually faded away, like a vision, beyond 
the dark blue edge of the sea, and almost im- 
mediately after passing the cape we encountered 
a strong easterly wind from the Adriatic, which 
met the Mediterranean here. 

At sunset there were huge banks of- grey 
clouds of fantastic shapes rising like high wooded 
islands, but we had moonlight on the waters every 
night. 

Those grey banks of cloud, however, were 
ominous, and by November the 24th the weather 



THE VOYAGE 5 

grew so rough that the " fiddle-strings " became 
necessary on the tables in the dining-saloon, 
where the attendance, too, grew distinctly thinner. 
Towards eveningf we sig^hted the cliffs of Crete 
(Candia), the fissured, mountainous, and dangerous- 
looking coast plainly visible in the sunlight, 
though a bank of cloud covered the summits of 
the island. 

After much tossing and rolling through another 
day and night the lights of Port Said were sighted 
about four o'clock on the morning of November 26. 
There was a powerful search-light from the light- 
house. We got into harbour about 5.30, and the 
coalino- beofan. It was a weird scene. Six black 
lighters were hauled alongside our steamer, three 
on the port bow and three on the starboard, and 
boats crowded to the water's edofe with coolies 
in long ragged garments and turbans, mostly of 
a dusky red and blue, the colours shining through 
the coal dust which darkened their naturally 
swarthy visages and forms. As these crowded 
boats approached with their weird passengers, one 
had an irresistible suggestion of Charon ferrying 
lost souls across the Styx — there was generally 
only one pair of oars, as the distance to the steamer 
from the wharf was very short. Well, these were 
our coal-slaves, upon whose cheap labour the speed 
of our steamers depends quite as much as on their 
own engines, one felt. From the boats they 
scrambled into the lighters — some shovelled up the 
coal into hand baskets of matting which others 
lifted on to their shoulders and carried across a 
narrow plank into the ship, forming a weird line of 



6 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

black figures silhouetted against the shining water. 
The coolies worked hard and fast in a black mist 
of coal dust and kept up a continual hubbub of 
cries in Arabic and other strange tongues which 
added to the weirdness of the scene. 

Port Said looked very new and flimsy, and was 





COALING AT PORT SAID — AND AFTER ! 

hopelessly vulgarised by flaming posters and ad- 
vertisements of Western origin both in French and 
English. Boats swarmed round the ship's side, and 
swarthy eager-eyed hotel touts came aboard in Fez 
caps, as well as a motley crowd of traders, Egyptian 
conjurers, and European musicians who played the 
latest popular waltzes. We were glad to escape 
the coal dust and go ashore, where an intelligent 



THE VOYAGE 7 

but probably not too scrupulous Egyptian guide 
undertook to show us everything, and we went 
with him round the town, passing through the 
market crowded with the picturesque life of the 




SPOILING THE EGYPTIANS ? OR BEING DESPOILED BY THEM ! 




SENSATION IN SOLAR TOPIS 



East, which indeed showed itself everywhere 
through the thin veneer of modern European 
commercialism. A venerable - looking prophet 
swept the streets, and, of course, there were plenty 
of street arabs ready to turn " cart-wheels " or 
anything that would turn a more or less honest 



S INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

penny in their direction, and the cry of ' ' Backsheesh " 
was raised on the sHghtest provocation. Our guide 
took us into a small Mohammedan mosque, modern, 
but, of course, strictly according to the traditional 
plan and oriented towards Mecca. We had to put 
on loose canvas shoes over our own shoes to enter 
the sacred precincts, and our guide gave us a long 
exposition of the necessary ablutions to be performed 
by the faithful before and after prayers, and showed 
us the water tank fitted with taps, at one of which 
a devotee was busy having his wash. 

The bazaar bristled with European goods, and 
topis and cigarettes were much in evidence, though 
there were some charming Egyptian fabrics in the 
form of scarves brocaded with patterns in gold or 
silver thread or black on white fine linen. 

On the whitewashed walls of some of the houses 
I noticed some primitive paintings in distemper, 
apparently representing camels, travellers, and 
palm-trees, done in profile. They were carried 
horizontally across the front of the houses as a sort 
of frieze, and were curiously suggestive in a child- 
like way of a survival of the ancient Egyptian 
method of decorating. Our guide said that they 
indicated that the dweller in the house had visited 
Mecca. Returning to "La Nera " we found her 
indeed blacker than she was painted, as everything 
on board was covered with a fine coal dust, which the 
energy of the crew with copious hose-pipes eventu- 
ally got rid of. The harbour of Port Said is always 
busy, many liners and transports coming and 
going, war vessels of various nationalities lying 
at anchor, boats plying to and fro, and young, lithe, 



THE VOYAGE 9 

brown-skinned natives on the quays, ready to dive 
for silver pieces, crouching shivering on the edge of 
the wharf, or in a boat, and crying in an almost con- 
tinuous monotone, " a la mer," " a la mer," " a la 
mer," until the hoped-for small coin is thrown 
into the water, when they adroitly dive and intercept 
it as it falls turning and glittering in the water, and 
reappear with it in their mouths, which soon open 
for more. 

We started again at 12.30 for Suez, entering the 



v^ES-r 



LAST 




-^ft^S^fe^f 




THE SUEZ CANAL 

canal. Our steamer was stopped at the first village 
to allow two steamers to pass — the " Clan Campbell " 
of Glasgow and the " Herefordshire " of Liverpool. 

The weather was quite cool and cloudy and it 
turned out a showery afternoon. Flocks of pelicans 
were seen on the waters of the wide shallow lakes 
we passed. There was a stormy sunset, and there 
was lightning after nightfall, but later the moon 
shone brightly, falling on the wan sand of the banks, 
which had quite the effect of snow under its clear 
cold light. 

The steamer moved slowly through the canal at 
about the rate of five knots. A passenger was 
landed at Ismailia, after which we entered the 



lo' INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

bitter lakes, and next morning we were within 
fifteen miles from Suez, but our steamer had to stop 
owing to a transport ship having got aground ahead 
of us. A German steamer was close behind us, 
and while waiting many of the passengers landed 
and roamed about on the desert sand. It was not 
long, however, before the transport was got off, and 
she presently passed us, a huge white steamer 
named the " Rena," crowded with English 
"Tommies" homeward bound. 

The passage of the Suez Canal is very interesting 
and comes as a welcome relief after tossing on the 
open sea out of sight of land. The long level lines 
of the sandy desert have a reposeful effect, but fine 
ranges of mountains are often seen beyond, and the 
desert is frequently varied with the 

" strip of herbage strown " 

embroidered with palm-trees, and these elements of 
Egyptian landscape steeped in the translucent 
atmosphere are relieved by striking bronze-coloured 
figures in blue robes and swarthy Arabs in white in 
the foreground on the sand-banks, or an occasional 
string of camels. 

We reached Suez about midday and anchored 
off the town. The Consul's tug paid us a visit, 
and our vessel was soon surrounded by a small 
fleet of picturesque craft with lateen sails, and 
gunwales painted with eyes, and in the semblance 
of quaint fish in bands of green and white, manned 
by swarthy Arabs and Egyptians. These brought 
cargo and provisions to be hoisted on board, and 
the process took an hour or two, but in the after- 



THE VOYAGE ii 

noon we steamed away again and entered the Red 
Sea. 

The weather grew perceptibly warmer, but was 
still not oppressive, and there was a cool breeze in 
the evening. There was a beautiful roseate light 
at afterglow on the eastern shore, where Mount 
Sinai was pointed out, and the well of Moses, and 
the traditional place of the Israelites' passage of the 
Red Sea. The sun set in gold and purple behind a 
bold range of craggy mountains on our starboard 
side, and a splendid moonlight night succeeded, the 
moon nearly at full. 

On the morning of the 28th November we passed 
"The Brothers" lightships to starboard, and the 
next day we were out of sight of land, with a 
pleasant breeze under the double awnings of the 
upper deck, enjoying the best summer weather, 
which we should think ourselves lucky to have in 
England. The Red Sea was really as blue as the 
Mediterranean, though of course subject to changes 
according to the sky, which turned to a wonderful 
clear greenish gold after sunset, powdered with 
small dark clouds which floated across it ; a violet 
flush above the gold blending it into the deep 
blue of the upper sky, the small floating clouds 
against it showing ashy grey, while against the 
gold of the afterglow they looked nearly black, the 
sea being- of a rather cold metallic blue. The 
serene weather and the splendour of the moonlit 
nights continued, but the temperature rose 
considerably, reaching 88° Fahr. in our cabin, 
which was on the starboard side of the ship. It is 
as well to remember that port side cabins are 



12 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



cooler for the outward voyage, and those on the 
starboard side for the homeward voyage, as going 
eastwards the heat of the sun falls on the starboard 
side necessarily for the greater part of the day, 
while going westwards of course the reverse is the 
case. This applies more particularly to the Red 
Sea. 

On November 30th we passed the island of 




■THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA 

(Therm : 88° or so !) 

Jubbelteer, on which was a lighthouse, and later, 
" The Twelve Apostles," a series of rocky volcanic- 
looking islands of bold and angular outline, and 
apparently barren. Sea-birds, however, were seen 
with black and white bodies and brown wings flying 
close to the water. 

On December the ist we passed Mocha, of 
coffee celebrity, and the island of Perrim, where 
there are lighthouses and signal stations, but, like 
the other islands we had seen, otherwise desolate 
in the extreme. Later the Arabian coast came 
into view and the sea was dotted with the sails of 
Arab dhows. The coast as we approached Aden 
showed volcanic-looking mountains, striking in form 



THE VOYAGE 13 

and bold in outline, with stretches of sand and rock 
between. Aden was reached about 2 p.m., a school 
of dolphins playing about the ship as if to welcome 
our arrival. 

Aden looked a queer uninviting place, baked dry 
by the sun — a cluster of temporary and barrack-like 
buildings huddled together anyhow along the rocky 
coast, with never a tree to be seen ; the ragged, 
precipitous, barren edges of extinct volcanoes form- 
ing a backoTOund to the red-roofed barracks and 

o o 

buno-alows. 

Several large white warships lay at anchor in the 
harbour, and lent a touch of gay colour by being 
decked with strings of bunting from stem to stern 
in honour of our Queen Alexandra's birthday. A 
German liner got in just before us and we saw the 
coal lighters being rowed up to her. " La Nera" 
coaled here also, but it was a less grimy proceeding 
than at Port Said, as the coal was in sacks. The 
type of coolies, too, was very different, and there 
were many African negroes (Soumalis) among 
them, whose skins could hardly be made blacker 
than they were by nature. In addition to its 
cluster of coaling lighters, our vessel, now at anchor, 
was soon surrounded by boats filled with natives 
who swarmed round the gangways, and soon 
invaded the ship — a crowd of Soumali traders 
offering ostrich feathers and feather fans (of a 
European look), ostrich eggs, wicker bottle-shaped 
baskets, shell necklaces, and amber beads, who 
drove their trade amongst the passengers on deck, 
whilst others endeavoured to catch their eyes from 
the boats. Thin, lithe young natives with fuzzy 



H 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



hair were very numerous, and some had dyed their 
hair red, which had a grotesque effect with the 
black skin. I noted a strange contrast in the same 
boat, too, which contained two natives, one of whom 
wore a sort of large-checked suit of pyjamas with his 
mop of red-dyed hair, while his companion had his 
head clean shaved with " nodings on"! Some 
natives seemed to have used face powder — at 




IN THE SAME BOAT — A CONTRAST AT ADEN 



any rate had smeared some kind of whitening 
over their countenances with ghastly effect. 

The scene was a strangfe one altoo-ether. The 
crowd of Europeans on deck, in which nearly every 
nationality was represented, mostly clad in topis 
and white garments, the black traders moving 
about them ; the swarm of boats at the sides of the 
vessel full of bright spots of colour — ^scarlet turbans, 
white, orange, yellow, and purple in the costumes 
— swaying on the turquoise-coloured sea ; brown- 
backed gulls flapping over the water and kites hover- 
ing over the harbour ; and all steeped in the bright 
sunshine of the East. Many of the passengers went 



THE VOYAGE 15 

ashore in the native boats, but the scene seemed more 
amusing" from the ship and we remained on deck. 

Aden itself looked more interesting at night, with 
bright lights here and there on the shore and on 
the ships, and the rising moon translated every- 
thing into terms of mystery and romance. 

I watched an Arab dhow set sail. It is one of 
the most beautiful of sailing vessels, and has a 
high old-fashioned poop — the line of the gunwale 
making a fine curve from stem to stern — a main- 
mast with a big lateen sail, two jibs on a short 
bowsprit, and a secondary smaller mast astern. 
The sun set behind the Arabian coast, the jagged 
peaks of which we had previously passed. The 
coaling did not finish till nightfall. The coolies 
seemed to undertake all the mechanical arrano-e- 
ments for the work, fixing the hauling gear and the 
necessary ropes and planks, and often in the process 
seeming to hang on to the ship with little more 
than their eyelids. When they pulled a rope 
together the cry to keep time sounded like 
" Leesah ! " or " Leeshah ! " with emphasis on the 
first syllable. 

The coaling finished, and the curious swarm of 
native life that had surrounded us departed, " La 
Nera " weighed anchor and pursued her course 
eastwards, skirting the rocky coast bathed in the 
moonlight as she made for the open Arabian 
Sea. 

The next day in the early morning we had sight 
of some flying-fish. They have almost the appear- 
ance of swallows at a distance, especially when seen 
against the light, but, glancing, as they leap out of 



1 6 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

the water, to disappear into it again very quickly, 
they flash in the sun Hke silver. 

The Arabian coast was still faintly visible 
towards the north, but gradually faded from view. 
The pleasant light breeze continued and it was not 
nearly so hot as in the Red Sea, in fact quite 
pleasant either on deck or below — especially with 
a " windle " fixed to the cabin port. 

We had made an interesting acquaintance on 
board, a French gentleman who knew India well 
and who was on his way to revisit that country, 
intending to join an English friend there on a 
shooting expedition. He was an old sportsman and 
had shot big game in Tibet. He united the keen- 
ness and experience of a sportsman with literary 
tastes and a love of history and archaeology. This 
gentleman introduced us to "the green ray," a 
phenomenon peculiar to the Eastern seas, I believe. 
Just at the moment when the sun disappears beneath 
the horizon there is the appearance of a vivid green 
spark flashing like a gem which seems to detach 
itself from the glowing orb and fly upward, instantly 
disappearing in the reddening haze. We witnessed 
this on several occasions, but in order to see it a 
clear sunset is absolutely necessary — that is to say 
that one must be able to see the sun sink below 
the horizon clear of cloud. The lovely moonlight 
nights continued, the moon being now ahead, and 
the apparent goal of the vessel's course. One night, 
however, was disturbed by the steamer stopping in 
mid-ocean. One gets so accustomed to the throb 
of the engines on board a steamer that its sudden 
cessation is quite startling. Passengers clustere(^ 



THE VOYAGE 



17 



near the engine-room to learn the cause, which 
turned out to be something wrong with " a 
washer " which affected the movement of the shaft. 
After about three hours this was repaired and the 
" Nera " continued her course. She generally made 
about 2)00 miles in the twenty-four hours. 

Incidents in the Indian Ocean were few and far 
between. Flying-fish were to be seen, but only in 




SOME TYPES AMONG OUR FELLOW PASSENGERS 



the early morning as a rule ; a whale was noticed 
spouting, and two sharks were sighted. I saw, too, 
a large turtle turn over close to the ship's side, but 
such sights very occasionally varied the wide sea- 
scape, and many were glad to turn to deck games 
or bridge for diversion, if they could not find it in 
books, or in observing their fellow passengers. 

Certainly amongst these latter there was no want 
of interest or variety ; they were quite an inter- 
national group, and included English and Anglo- 
Indians returning after leave of absence in Europe 



1 8 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

to take up their official duties, civil or military, on 
new appointments with their wives and families ; 
a large proportion of French (it being a French 
steamer) ; then there were Portuguese and Dutch 
(going out to Australia), Germans and Canadians, 
Armenians from Rangoon, and Indians from 
Bombay ; several Armenian priests also, probably 
missionaries ; there were negroes and Arabs in the 
fo'castle, and among the second-class passengers 
a characteristic group of English workmen — 
foremen engineers and navvies. They were bound 
for Bombay, having been engaged to direct coolie 
labour on new and extensive docks at that port, 
their contract being for three years, and their 
passage paid. I think they got very tired of doing 
nothing and did not feel quite happy with the French 
dinners, although the heaviest man of the party 
made it a rule to devour everything that was set 
before him, taking Saint Paul's advice, and "asking 
no questions." I think all the ages of man — and 
woman — were represented on board, including 
more than one infant " mewling and puling in its 
nurse's arms." A little sample of the big world 
chipped off and sent adrift on the ocean — a ship 
of life, not without its enigmas, its little ironies and 
uncertainties, tossed upon the very type of uncer- 
tainty — the sea. 

A ship, however, is a castle of indolence as far 
as the passengers are concerned, though the crew, 
I suspect, would tell a very different story, as, apart 
from the severe work of the engineers and stokers, 
their work never seems at an end, and it is only 
by constant washing, scrubbing, and sweeping 



THE VOYAGE 19 

that a steamer can be kept decently clean and 
habitable. 

To break the monotony of the five days' voyage 
on the Indian Ocean a concert was got up by an 
energetic young lady and her friends. They went 
round the ship to discover what hidden musical 
or histrionic talent might be concealed under the 
more or less disguised personalities of the passen- 
gers, and they succeeded in drawing out enough 
for an evening's entertainment on the saloon deck, 
which was picturesquely draped with bunting for 
the occasion, and a piano was wheeled into position. 
Various songs were given, and a French princess, 
who was among the passengers, recited. The 
young lady who had been the leading spirit in 
organising the concert herself gave some charming 
songs which she accompanied on a guitar, and a 
pretty song in Japanese costume and umbrella from 
'* The Geisha," I think, with much spirit. The pro- 
ceeds went to the benefit of the orphans of the 
Messageries Maritimes sailors. 

After this violent excitement the days passed as 
days do at sea, the fine weather continuing with 
delightful monotony. The fresh easterly breeze was 
strong enough to fieck the blue plain with " white 
horses," yet not cause any trying movement of the 
vessel, which ploughed steadily through the waves, 
driving the spray from its bows, and causing danc- 
ing rainbows on the foamy crests as they rebounded 
from the ship's side. The sun rising in clear glory 
from the sea, disappeared each evening in tranquil 
splendour, showing the green ray, and the deep red 
along the horizon in the west afterwards, over the 



20 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

dark blue sea. The dark blue above and the illumin- 
ated sky between, recalled the favourite effect in 
Japanese prints by Hiroshigi, and at the same time 
testified to its truth. 

But all things have an end, even ocean voyages, 
and about four o'clock on the morning of Friday, 
December the 7th, our steamer slowed down and 
took on board the pilot, and we, cautiously steering 
past mysterious islands under the dawn, finally cast 
anchor in Bombay harbour. 



CHAPTER II 

BOMBAY AND THE CAVES OF ELLORA 

THE first impression of Bombay from the sea is 
perhaps a httle disappointing from the 
pictorial point of view. The town spreads along 
the low flat coast, lined with long quays without any 
great domes or conspicuous noble buildings. One 
is aware of wharves and factory chimneys, and even 
the palms and gardens of Malabar Hill, and blue 
mountains inland do not altogether mitigate the 
commercial and industrial aspects of the place ; but 
the light and colour of the East fuse all sorts of 
incongruities, and the feeling of touching a strange 
land and of setting foot for the first time in India 
is sufficiently exciting to throw a sort of glamour 
over everything. 

The steamers cannot disembark their passengers 
at the quays, so they have to be landed in boats 
which cluster about the sides of the big liner. The 
official tug comes alongside first, and the official 
visit is paid. We were due the evening before, and 
inquiries as to the why and wherefore of the delay 
had to be satisfied. Busy agents and eager hotel 
touts come on board, and all is bustle and prepara- 
tion for landing. 

Our Indian friend had been unexpectedly called 
away and was unable to meet us, but he committed 



22 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



us to the care of other friends at Bombay. We 
landed, however, with our friend the French 
explorer, with all our baggage, in a native boat, and 
by dint of a ragged lateen sail and oars plied by 
a swarthy, wild-looking crew, soon reached the quay, 
where a crowd of coolies waited to spring upon our 
belongings. 

Our French friend spoke Hindustanee fluently. 




LANDING AT BOMBAY 



fortunately for us ; and amid the clamour of tongues 
which surrounded us, was able to arrange for an 
ox-cart to take our united bao-o-ao-e to the Custom- 
House, where, after an interview with some languid 
English officials clad in white drill and topis, having 
nothing contraband, we were duly passed, though 
our friend, possessing firearms, was delayed longer, 
and of course had to pay. The Bombay ox-carts 
are two-wheeled with high sides of timber, forming 
a square open lattice, and drawn by a pair of oxen. 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 25 

Committing- our worldly goods to this delightful 
prehistoric vehicle, we took a carriage — a little, one- 
horse, open victoria, which is the street cab of 
Bombay, and similar to those in use in the towns of 
Italy — and drove to the Taj -Mahal Hotel, a vast, 
new, modern caravanserai — which, however, was 
quite full, so we went on to the old-established 
'* Watson's " on the Esplanade, where we got a good 




AWAITING THE CUSTOMS — BOMBAY 



room with a balcony and a view. There was also 
a pleasant covered terrace, or verandah, extending 
the whole length of the building, which on the north 
side, always in shade, faced a garden green with 
well-watered lawns and thickly planted with um- 
brageous mango and banyan trees, amid which 
the ubiquitous crows of India (resembling our 
hooded crow) kept up a continual cawing chorus 
as they flitted about, now swooping down on some 
ill-considered trifle in the street, or perching 
expectantly about the hotel precincts, on the look- 
out for scattered crumbs. Great brown kites 



24 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



hovered in the air, forming a second Hne of watch- 
ful but silent scavengers. The terrace also 
commanded a view of the street with all its varied 




'^ 



STREET PERFORMERS — BOMBAY 



types in costume, race, and colour and character. 
The prosperous, sleek Parsee merchant in his 
curious shiny, sloping high hat, long black alpaca 
or white tunic, and loose white nether garments and 
umbrella ; Europeans in white drill and grey or 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 25 

white pith helmets, which gave a superficial family 
likeness to all who wore them ; native servants, 
Hindu, Portuguese, and half-caste, in every variety 
of turban and costume, sitting or standing about in 
groups, waiting to be hired ; wandering minstrels, 
dancing women, and jugglers and tumblers trying to 
catch the eye — and the small change — of the travel- 
ler ; men with tom-toms and performing monkeys 
water-carriers with their dripping goat-skin slung 
at their side, coolies and coolie women constantly 
passing to and fro from the quays, bearing their 
burdens on their heads ; the bearer and the ayah 
in charge of faired-haired English children, passing 
in and out of the gardens ; the British soldier in 
khaki, and the native policeman in blue with a flat 
yellow cap. These and such as these were the 
prevailing types in the scene from the hotel balcony, 
from whence, also, we could see the tram-cars, 
drawn by horses in big white topis, trailing up and 
down the Esplanade, while motors flashed by, and 
smart European ladies drove in their dog-carts. 
Beyond the trees of the garden rose a modern 
clock-tower which told the burning hours in the 
familiar Westminster chimes. 

Themodern British buildings of Bombay wouldpro- 
bably in newspaper language be described as "hand- 
some," There were many showy and pretentious 
structures in a sort of Italian Gothic style, but they 
looked imported, and were decidedly out of place in a 
country which possesses such magnificent specimens 
of architecture of its own growth — as one might say. 
The many balconied and shuttered fronts, with 
projecting stories, the ridge-tiled roofs and plastered 



26 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

walls that we saw in the older quarters of the town 
seemed, as types of dwelling-houses at least, much 
moresuitable and characteristic, andsuch types would 
surely be capable of adaptation to modern require- 
ments. The Crawford Market is one of the sights 
of Bombay. Outside, with its steep roofs, belfry, and 
projecting eaves it has a rather English Gothic look, 
but inside the scene is entirely oriental, crowded 
with natives in all sorts of colours, moving among 
fish, fruit, grain, and provisions of all kinds, buying 
and selling amid a clamour of tongues — a busy 
scene of colour and variety, in a symphony of 
smells, dominated by that of the smoke of joss-sticks 
kept burning at some of the stalls as well as a 
suspicion of opium, which pervades all the native 
quarters in Indian cities. There is a sort of court or 
garden enclosed by the buildings, and here the live 
stock is kept — all sorts of birds and animals. 

A drive through the native bazaar of Bombay is 
a revelation. The carriage works its way with 
difficulty through the narrow, irregular street, crowded 
with natives in every variety of costume (or next to 
no costume), forming a wonderful moving pattern 
of brilliant colour, punctuated by swarthy faces, 
gleaming eyes, and white teeth. Shops of every 
kind line each side of the way, and these are rather 
dark and cavernous openings, shaded by awnings 
and divided by posts or carved pillars on the 
lowest story, but raised from the level of the streets 
by low platforms which serve the purposes of 
counter and working bench to the native merchant 
or craftsman who squats upon it, and often unites 
the two functions in his own person. He generally^ 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 27 

carries on his work in the presence of his whole 
family, apparently. All ages and sexes crowd in 
and about the shops, carrying on a perpetual con- 
versazione, and the bazaar literally swarms with 
dusky, turbaned faces, varied by the deep red sari 
of the Hindu women, with their glittering armlets 
and anklets, or the veiled Mohammedan in her — 
well, pyjamas ! 

The older house fronts above the shops were 
often rich with carving and colour, the upper stories 
being generally supported over the open shop by 
four columns. It reminded one of the arrangement 
of a mediaeval street, as also in its general aspect, 
the shops being mostly workshops ; and, as in the 
old days in Europe, could be seen different crafts 
in full operation, while the finished products of 
each were displayed for sale. There were tailors 
stitching away at garments, coppersmiths hammering 
their metal into shape, leather workers, jewellers, cook- 
shops, and many more, the little dark shops in most 
cases beine crowded with other fiorures besides those 
of the workers — each like a miniature sta^e of life 
with an abundance of drama going on in all. The 
whole bazaar, too, was gay with colour — white, 
green, red, orange, yellow, and purple, of all sorts 
of shades and tones, in turban or robe — a perfect 
feast for the eye. 

In the course of our drive through the bazaar 
we met no less than three wedding processions, 
though rather broken and interrupted by the traffic. 
In one the bridegroom (who, with the Hindus and 
Mohammedans, is considered the most important 
personage in the ceremony as well as the spectacle) 



28 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

was in a carriage, on his way to fetch the bride, in 
gorgeous raiment and with a crown upon his head. 
He was followed by people bearing floral trophies, 
perhaps intended for decoration afterwards. These 
consisted of gilt vases with artificial flowers in 
them, arranged in rows close together, and carried 
in convenient lengths on a plank or shelf by young 
men bearers. 

Another of the bridegrooms was mounted on a 
horse, crowned and robed like a Byzantine emperor 
with glittering caparisons and housings, a tiny 
little dusky girl sitting behind him and holding 
on, who was said to be his little sister. 

The third bridegroom we saw was veiled, in 
addition to the bravery of his glittering attire. 
Flowers were strewn by boys accompanying him, 
and a little bunch fell into our carriage as we 
waited for the procession to go by, in which, of 
course, the musicians went before. We afterwards 
passed the house where the wedding was being 
celebrated, the o-uests assembling- in grreat numbers 
to the feast, a tremendous noise going on, drums 
beating and trumpets blowing. In one of the 
processions very antique-looking trumpets or horns 
were carried of a large size, much resembling the 
military horns of ancient Roman times. These 
were Hindu weddings. 

We also had a glimpse of a Parsee wedding. 
This was in the open court of a large house ar- 
caded from the street, brilliantly illuminated, where 
sat a great crowd of guests all attired in white. 

Working right through the native bazaar we 
reached the Victoria Gardens, a sort of Kew and' 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 29 

Zoological rolled into one, being well stocked with 
fine palms and many varieties of tropical trees, as 
well as birds and animals, and all looking in good 
condition and well kept. Many Eurasians were 
here walking about, looking very weird in European 
dress. In these gardens are situated the Victoria 
and Albert Museum of Bombay. 

Sir George Birdwood had given me an introduc- 
tion to H.H. the Aga Khan and we drove out to 
his abode, only to find, however, that His Highness 
had gone to Calcutta on his way to Japan. I was 
not much more fortunate with my other intro- 
ductions to the eminent Parsee Sir Jamsetji 
Jijibhai, and Sir Cowasji Jehangir Ready money. 
Although the son of the latter magnate did call 
upon us and brought us an invitation from Lady 
Jehangir, we were unable to accept it owing to the 
shortness of our stay in Bombay. I understood 
that the Calcutta Races in December attracted a 
great many of the rich Bombay residents, and 
this accounted for the absence from their homes 
of many at that time. 

We had a glimpse of some of the palaces on 
Malabar Hill, seeing the latter first against a 
glowing sunset. Fringed with palms and plantains, 
with its fantastic buildings silhouetted on the sky^ 
it recalled the banks of storm cloud I had seen 
on the voyage, with their vaporous trees and 
aerial hanging gardens. 

A closer acquaintance did not impress us with 
any conviction of the healthiness of Malabar 
Hill, though of the sumptuousness of its houses, 
and often their fantastic character, and the luxuri- 



30 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

ance of its palms and gardens, there could be no 
doubt. We passed the grey wall of the Tower of 
Silence, the burial (?) place of the Parsees, where the 
crows, the kites, and the vultures were gathered 
together, but did not linger there. From the hill 
there is certainly a magnificent view of the city of 
Bombay : especially if seen just before sundown, 
when a golden glow seems to transfigure the scene ; 
and later, looking down on the vast plain, the 
white houses partly hid in trees scattered along 
the shore, the quays, and the ships at anchor in 
the bay, all seem to sink like a dream into the 
roseate atmosphere of sunset. But even that 
lovely light is darkened by a heavy smoke cloud 
drifting on the city from the forest of gaunt factory 
chimneys rising in the East like the shadow of 
poverty which is always cast by the riches of 
the West. 

One rather wondered that Bombay was content 
to allow its best drive to be disfigured by a con- 
tinuous succession of hideous commercial posters 
painted along the walls of one of its sides, the 
other being lined with palms and open towards the 
sea. This is, however, not worse indifference — in 
fact not so bad — as ours at home in allowing the 
posters along the railway lines to disfigure the 
charming and varied landscape of our own country. 

One of the first necessities to the traveller in 
India, especially if he be ignorant of Hindustanee, is 
the eneasfinof of a native bearer or servant. There 
is always a large class of these seeking engage- 
ments. They may be seen hanging about Messrs 
Cook's Tourist Offices in groups. They usually 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 31 

wear white clothes and turbans, but the half-caste 
Portuguese are dressed in semi- European fashion 
with their cloth suits and small, flat, round caps of 




INTERVIEW WITH CANDIDATES FOR THE POST OF BEARER — 
MOSTLY UNBEARABLE ! 

the sort which used to be termed "pork pie" in 
England, only lower. These are embroidered 
round the rim, and a similar sort of head covering 
is also worn by superior caste Hindus. For the 
post of bearer the traveller will find plenty of 
applicants when he makes his requirements known, 



32 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

in fact their number is rather embarrassinof, and 
they all produce "chits" or letters of recommenda- 
tion from former employers. These, indeed, are 
the only references to go upon, unless one happens 
to come with the personal testimony of a friend. 
The bearers mostly register their names at Cook's 
offices, but they do not take any responsibility 
there for them in any way. These native servants 
expect 35 rupees (and upwards) a month, with an 
allowance for clothes, but out of this pay they 
find their own food. If, however, their food is 
provided, they take less pay — about 25 rupees — 
but prices generally have an upward tendency. 
The engagement may probably be for three or 
four months, which gives the ordinary European 
tourist time to g-et round India, visiting the 
principal places of interest en route. A rupee 
in India is now only worth one shilling and four- 
pence, and fifteen rupees are the equivalent of a 
sovereign, it should be remembered. 

Of course the bearer's travelling expenses and 
washing are paid as long as he is with his master, 
and his fare home when his engagement comes to 
an end, and then, too, probably he would get a 
present if his conduct has been satisfactory. One 
does not generally expect mirrors of virtue and 
trustiness on such terms. No doubt native bearers 
vary considerably in capacity and experience as 
well as in appearance, to say nothing of honesty 
and fidelity, and some are better as couriers than as 
body or camp servants, or vice versa. Some claim 
to be efficient valets des places in addition to 
ordinary services, but it should be remembered 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA Z3 

that the bearer caste are not allowed to enter the 
sacred precincts of the great temples in India. Our 
choice, influenced mainly by a personal recom- 
mendation, fell on one Moonsawmy — a not unusual 
Hindu name. He had been in the service of Sir 
Samuel Baker and had had some experience in 
tiger-shooting, or at any rate had been out on such 
expeditions and in camp with the famous traveller 
and sportsman, but he had also acted as courier to 
English parties travelling in India, and professed 
to know the country well. We had planned an 
excursion to the caves of Ellora from Bombay with 
our friend M. Dauvergne, who had never seen them 
and was anxious to do so. Having mapped out our 
route we started on our expedition on December the 
loth. Leaving Victoria Station, Bombay, at noon, 
we travelled by the G. I. P. (Great Indian Penin- 
sular Railway), making our first train journey in 
India. The line crossed a cultivated plain at first, 
getting clear of Bombay ; groups of date palms here 
and there were suggestive of Egypt. We passed 
native villages of different types, some with thatched 
roofs and some with tile — brown ridee tiles not unlike 
what one sees in Italy, and even corrugated iron 
was visible (alas !) here and there. The low huts 
built of sun-dried bricks or mud with flat roofs were 
the strangest and most eastern-looking. One could 
get glimpses, too, of the inhabitants, the Hindu 
women in saris, often of red or purple or blue, 
bearing on their heads water jars or bright brass or 
copper vessels, with much natural grace, some also 
carrying little brown babies supported by one arm 
on their hip. 
c 



34 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Leaving the plains we entered a very interesting; 
hill country covered with jungle and forests where 
we saw many teak trees and banyans, besides 
many varieties of acacia. Mountains of striking form 
came into view, suggestive of castled crags. We 
soon afterwards passed the Thull Ghat, where the 
line rises as much as 1050 feet in a distance of 
about ten miles — which means a steep gradient. We 
passed rice fields, also sugar canes, and a kind of 
Indian corn, but not maize, and castor-oil plants 
which are cultivated extensively. There were 
interesting and picturesque groups of natives at all 
the stations. Finally Munmad was reached towards 
six o'clock in the evening. This was our first stage, 
and the junction for Daulatabad our next, in the 
territory of the Nizam of Hyderabad. We, how- 
ever, decided to stay the night at Munmad and go 
on the next morning — in fact, if I remember right, 
it was a case of necessity, as there was no train on 
that evening". So we were conducted to the Dak 
Bungalow, some little walk from the station, through 
a native village, with our baggage carried on the 
heads of women coolies. We found the bungalow 
a most inhospitable place of incredible bareness, 
and nothing to sleep on but narrow wooden framed 
couches, having a sort of stringy webbing full of 
holes. The gaunt draughty rooms were almost 
destitute of other furniture and had no conveniences 
of any kind. The native keeper of the place seemed 
helpless. There was no food to be had, and he 
could not have cooked it if there had been, so we 
had to make shift as best we could with what we 
had in our tea baskets. I should not advise any 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 35 

one to travel in India, at least at all off the track 
of hotels, without provisions and bedding. There 
was not much sleep to be had that night. The 
beds were frightfully uncomfortable and the room 
was cold. An Anglo-Indian official on the forest 
service occupied the best room, we afterwards 




(^ W?S5? 








A. 

A BED -AT THE DAK BUNGALOW ! MUMMAD (KEEP IT DA(R)k) 

discovered, but he, as is usual, travelled with his 
horses and several servants, including a cook, and 
a supply of necessaries of all sorts. We left the 
inhospitable bungalow early the next morning, 
processing through the village in the same way 
as that in which we had come, with our baggage on 
the heads of the coolie women. We made the ac- 
quaintance at Munmad of the charming, frisky little 



36 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

palm squirrels which abound everywhere in India — 
delightful little greenish-grey creatures with dark 
longitudinal stripes extending from their noses to 
their tails. They play about the dwellings quite 
familiarly, but are off like a shot up a tree and out 
of sight at the smallest alarm. Scaling the trunk 
of a tree spirally, they have almost the appearance 
of lizards, and they are certainly as nimble. 

The buffalo cow, too, is seen in every Indian 
village, a strange, dusky, rough-coated beast, with a 
weird, half-human, but rather sinister expression in 
its dark eyes, with long horns turned back upon 
their necks. They walk scornfully along to be 
milked, with an air which seems to say they 
thought the world but a poor place. 

We took train to Daulatabad and entered the 
Nizam's territory. A police officer in his service 
was in the train, and was very intelligent and gave 
us much useful information. We now passed 
through a more arid-looking country than before, 
where cactuses and low trees grew sparsely on 
burnt yellow slopes and rocky hills, often of strange 
form, the country showing signs of a great upheaval 
from the sea. 

At Daulatabad, a small road station, a tonga 
was waiting for us, drawn by two poor broken-down 
ponies and a rather ragged red-turbaned driver. 
Our destination was the town of Rozah, a drive of 
some ten miles and mostly uphill, on a loose, rough 
road. 

A conspicuous object in the landscape at Daula- 
tabad is the ancient fortress upon a steep hill rising 
abruptly from the plain. It was a famous strong- 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 3; 

hold, but was conquered by the Mohammedans in 
the thirteenth century. There are the ruins of the 
ancient city which it once protected, and within the 
citadel are remains of Hindu temples, one trans- 
formed into a mosque by the Moslems. Our road 
lay through the shattered gates which still marked 
the extent of the city with fragments of the outer 
walls, the whole area overgrown with trees and 
herbage, and clusters of native huts here and there. 
The road to Rozah is an almost continuous ascent, 
and in some places very steep, which made it very 
hard work for the wretched ponies which dragged 
our tonga, though, of course, we relieved it of our 
weight by walking up the worst hills. The sun 
was blazing, but there was a little shade to be had 
occasionally under the fine banyan trees which 
skirted the roadside. 

Towards evenino- we saw the domes of Rozah 

o 

on a high plateau in front of us, and presently 
entered the town through a battlemented gate. It 
was a Mohammedan town with many important 
domed tombs, but it had a neglected and sparsely 
peopled aspect and a look of departed splendour. 
We made our way along a straggling street, and, 
passing through another gate, came out upon the 
other end of the plateau, from which we saw, open- 
ing before us as far as the eye could reach towards 
the west, the vast, green, fruitful plains of the Deccan. 
In command of this view we found our quarters 
for the night — the Travellers' Bungalow — but this, 
the Nizam's bungalow, was a great contrast to the 
one at Munmad, being clean and comfortable, with 
good beds and sufficient furniture and rugs, and a 



SS INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

bath-room. The native in charge was able to pro- 
vide food, too, and to cook a dinner, which, if not 
exactly Parisian, was, at all events, a vast improve- 
ment upon our last one. The sun set without a 
cloud, the last golden light lingering upon the white 
and black domes of the tombs around us. Then 
followed the afterglow, and then the darkness fell 
like a curtain, but the stars were intensely bright in 
the clear sky. The air was very pure and the 
silence of the place was profound. We were glad 
to rest after our long, hot, dusty journey, but I 
manag'ed to gret a sketch done before the iip^ht went. 

After breakfast the next morning (December 12) 
we started to walk to the caves at Ellora, which we 
found were only a short distance down the hill. 
A winding road led us past another of the Nizam's 
bungalows to a sort of terrace in front of the first 
great cave, or, more properly, rock-cut temple, 
the Kylas, which, coming down the hill from above, 
one does not see until close upon it, and it is only 
on entering the court through the great gateway 
that one slowly realises the wonder of it, A huge 
temple of symmetric ground plan cut clean out of 
the great cliff, the straight sides of which are seen 
rising like a vast wall above it. A mass of intricate 
and richly carved detail, a veritable incrustation of 
carving of extraordinary richness rises before one. 
Standing clear in a spacious court, enclosed on three 
sides by a deep arcade cut in the sheer sides of the 
cliff (which shows the tool marks), having an outer 
row of massive detached columns and an inner row 
of engaged columns, and deep recessed chambers. 

On each side of the entrance to the temple in 




THE KYLAS, CAVES OF ELLORA 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 39 

the court stand two isolated columns or pylons, and 
near these two great stone elephants. These 
columns and elephants really flank a big pedestal 




'^ 






i 




IX 0— 




WE ARE INTRODUCED TO THE, CAVES OF ELLORA 

of stone with steps cut in it which lead up to a 
huge image of a Sacred Bull within a square 
chamber, from which a bridge is crossed and the 
portico of the temple is reached. Through this the 
great central hall, or nave, of the temple is entered, 



40 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

divided into four parts by groups of pillars, leaving 
an open passage up the middle and across to a 
portico on each side. From this chamber a few 
steps lead to the shrine of the Lingam, through a 
doorway. There are steps and doorways to each 
side of the shrine which lead on to open platforms, 
where are five recesses richly covered with 
sculptures of the Hindu mythology, as indeed is 
the whole temple, both within and without. The 
carved treatment and the whole idea of the scheme 
suggests that the original prototypes of such 
temples must have been structures of wood, and the 
elaborate treatment and small scale of some of the 
ornamental work seems reminiscent of wood-carving. 

The carved work may be said to be of two kinds. 
There was a sort of architectural or formal ornament 
in low relief resembling in style and treatment 
Assyrian work, in which the lotus frequently 
appeared treated as a fiat rosette and used as 
paterae, arranged in rows with intervals ; and there 
was a high relief treatment of figure sculpture. 
Among the horizontal courses of carved decoration 
I noted a treatment of the garland or swag, the 
ends being twisted through rings from which they 
were represented as depending. These might have 
been of a Greek or Roman pattern. 

The exterior carving of the temple in the parts 
sheltered under eaves and by doorways showed 
traces of painting — the colours being red and green 
on white. The whole of the surfaces appear to 
have been coated with plaster to receive colour, 
in the same way as may be seen at the temple of 
Castor and Pollux at Girgenti. 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 41 

The stone when exposed to the weather was 
very much blackened and resembled the gritstone 
of Derbyshire in colour and texture. 

The Temple was dedicated to Siva, but the 
whole Hindu pantheon of the Vedic gods appeared 
to be sculptured in this marvellous place, as well as 
the different avators of Siva. 

The Hindu religion is really a great system of 
nature- worship, all the powers, forces, and influences 
being personified and symbolised, nothing being 
accounted "common or unclean" — the elephant- 
headed Ganesha and the monkey god Hunuman 
taking their place as "eligible deities" — the whole 
scheme resting on the acknowledgment of the 
sexual origin of life. The generative organs them- 
selves being revered as sacred, and symbolised in 
the mysterious Lingam which is enshrined in all 
the Hindu temples, and the object of special 
devotion. 

The god Siva and Parvati his spouse form the 
principal subject among the sculptures of the Kylas. 
A striking design rather Egyptian in feeling was 
to be seen in a large carved panel of Parvati 
represented as seated on the water, or rather on a 
mass of lotus leaves and flowers — the flower of life 
— with attendant elephants symmetrically arranged 
on each side, showering water upon the goddess 
from their trunks. In all countries religious 
symbols are taken from familiar and characteristic 
objects common to each, although, as Count Goblet 
dAlbiella points out in his most interesting and 
learned work on the " Migration of Symbols," 
there is also a process of exchange and adaptation 



42 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



in ideas between different peoples and countries by 
means of which we get imported types, which, how- 
ever, become naturaHsed and reappear in the form or 
convention pecuHar to the country of their adoption. 
As we gazed up at the cHffs from which this 







^i^ ^r VTi 




M¥~fe 




AND ITS WASPS ! 

wonderful structure had been hewn, we noticed a 
number of green parrots fluttering about or clinging 
to the sheer walls of rock — like vivid green flashes 
of light upon the cold stone. Down in the court a 
number of extraordinarily large-sized wasps came 
buzzing about us. They looked formidable enough 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 43 

but did not do any damage, though their obtrusion 
did not facilitate the process of a sketching against 
time. 

Besides the Kylas, which is said to date from 
about 750-850 A.D. There were a number of other 
and smaller temples, cut in the face of the cliff at 
intervals extending along the hill on each side of 
the Kylas. The most ancient is supposed to date 
from 200 B.C. and the latest from the thirteenth 
century a.d. A guide on the spot showed us several 
Buddhist temples and these were much more cave- 
like in character. One had very fine massive 
carved and fluted columns. 

The second temple we saw suggested in its plan 
and form an apsidal basilica, and in detail wooden 
structure, the roof being carved in close ribs, curved 
to the form of a pointed arch, supported by a 
horizontal cornice and columns set very close 
together. A colossal figure of the seated Buddha 
filled the view at the end of the nave, but there 
was an ambulatory behind it. The figure was 
painted a dark red with white drapery and black 
hair, the eyes, with strongly marked white and 
black pupils, had a fixed stare which carried the 
whole length of the Temple. 

The next temple visited, also Buddhistic, was 
much plainer, and was being supported by new 
buttresses of masonry to prevent the cliff from 
falling. The third was larger but also quite 
plain and square cut, the structure of the pillars 
and cornice being again on timber principles ; 
but none approached the Kylas in beauty and 
interest. 



44 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

The village of Ellora lay on the plain among- trees 
about a mile and a half away from the foot of the 
cliff. Our guide pointed out some Jain temples 
there half hidden in masses of foliage and sugfeested 
a walk there, but by this time, between lo and ii 
o'clock In the morning, the sun was very powerful 
and the heat great, and as there was no shade till 
the villao-e was reached and we had to gret back to 
our bungalow, we gave it up and climbed the hill 
again. As we left the Kylas a large and most 
picturesque group of natives were squatted outside 
the gateway having a sort of picnic, a day out with 
their wives and numerous children, and they were 
wandering alloverthetemple chatteringand laughing 
as they examined the sculptures and seemingly enjoy- 
ing themselves much. They gazed at us curiously 
as we passed, as at some strange animals from an 
unknown country. 

M. Dauvergne took some photographs of the 
caves, while I managed to get a coloured sketch of 
the Kylas, and a few notes. 

We found the return journey to Daulatabad rather 
easier, being mostly downhill, though it was so 
precipitous in places that it was a marvel our poor 
ponies kept on their legs. We met many natives 
on the road, both Mohammedans and Hindus, as 
well as herds of goats, and asses with sacks of 
grain slung across their backs, black sheep and 
zebu carts. 

We reached Daulatabad station about the 
middle of the day, or early afternoon, and were 
fortunate enough (owing to the language at thQ 
command of our friend who explained our wants) 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 45 

to get quite an excellently cooked and nicely served 
tiffin in the waiting-room. 

There were interesting native figures about the 
station, and a group of figures at the village 
well not far off, where I got a sketch of a 
Hindu girl in a blue sari with a water jar on her 
head. She had a little round mark (Buddhist) 
like a red seal on her forehead, and her name 
was Hashuma. 

We got a train about 5.30 back to Munmad 
arriving there soon after 9 at night. After dining 
at the station we bade farewell to our friend M. 
Dauvergne, who was travelling on to Bareilly, far 
up in the north-western provinces to join his shooting 
companion. Our train from Bombay did not leave 
until 3 A.M., but sleep was impossible owing to the 
noise, although we had a waiting-room to ourselves. 
It was only the usual conversazione which is carried 
on at every Indian station by the natives who 
throng the platforms, often waiting all night for a 
train, squatting in groups and keeping up a con- 
tinual stream of talk. We were relieved when a 
faithful coolie announced the arrival of our train 
and carried in our bags. We had a compartment 
to ourselves for the most part until nearing Bombay, 
our only fellow-passengers being at different 
times a very quiet Hindu, and a British officer of 
the Royal Scots who did not travel far. But, 
before we got in, the carriage became crowded 
with every variety of costume, Parsee and Hindu 
merchants getting in for Bombay, until we were 
quite full up and — oh ! so hot. Glad we were 
to get in at last, but not till noon — the hottest 



46 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

time of day — feeling rather fagged after our 
long journey. The heat in Bombay is very 
oppressive even in the so-called cool season. 
We generally lived in a temperature of about 
88°, this in the dining-room being mitigated 
by electric fans ; but it is always a relief when 
the sun declines, and a drive in the cool of 
the evening is delightful. 

We planned a rather extensive tour, and with the 
assistance of Messrs Cook, worked out a complete 
itinerary through India, ending at Ceylon, from 
whence we purposed to return in the following 
March. 

On December 14 M. Dadabhai Naoroji arrived by 
the Arcadia at Bombay on his way to the National 
Congress at Calcutta of which he had been elected 
President. He had a great welcome. Flags and 
triumphal arches were put up along the esplanade, 
and he was brought from the Taj Mahal Hotel in 
a motor car decorated with flowers. An enormous 
crowd turned out to welcome him, chiefly of the 
Parsee community, and Parsees were conspicuous 
in the balconies of the houses and hotels along the 
route of the procession and parsee inscriptions of 
welcome hung across the streets. It was a striking 
scene from our balcony altogether. The last golden 
rays of the sun were slanting across the open 
esplanade alternating with broad luminous shadows 
and along the front streamed a vast white clad 
crowd — so different to the black crowds we are 
accustomed to in Europe — a white crowd varied 
with notes of bright colour and black here and 
there, and the red bunting floating around the 







.umm: 



>t^ 



BOMBAY AND CAVES OF ELLORA 47 

bronze equestrian statue of King Edward VII. in 
the foreground : while the balconies were gay with 
Parsee ladies in their delicate embroidered silks, 
canary coloured, pink, blue, green, violet and 
scarlet. 



CHAPTER III 

AHMEDABAD 

'^X JE left Bomba)^ for Ahmedabad on December 
* ^ the 15th. Finding that the best train was 
a night one, and as it was a journey of some three 
hundred miles or more, and time was an object, we 
made up our minds, though not given to night 
travelling, to make an exception to our usual 
practice, although we should lose the sight of the 
country by the way. Railway travelling in India is 
quite as comfortable as one might expect. The 
carriages, it is true, vary on different lines and 
according to age, but, as a rule, the trains have 
separate carriages for Europeans and for different 
classes of natives, and it is often quite possible to 
have an entire compartment even for a long 
distance. On some lines the first-class carriages 
are scarcely better than the second, but the fare is 
double. The best carriages have compartments 
containing two long leather-covered seats, each side 
under the windows, which can be turned into 
sleeping couches at night. There is a good space 
between them and also at the end between the 
doors, and a lavatory is always attached. Above 
the seats are slung two upper berths, so that the 
compartment cottld be arranged for four sleepers. 
Any amount of light luggage can be taken into the 
48 



AHMEDABAD 49 

compartments by passengers, but the heavy must 
be registered. The windows are protected from 
the sun by Venetian shutters, which can be let up 
or down, as well as glass, clear or toned, and some- 
times fine wire screens. Outside there is a sort of 
hood, between which and the tops of the windows 
is a space for air, so that the fierce heat of the sun 
is tempered, and the carriage shielded to a certain 
extent from its rays. 

We found very well-appointed sleeping-cars to 
Ahmedabad, but divided into ladies' and gentlemen's 
compartments. As it happened, another couple 
were the only others travelling by the first-class 
sleeping-car besides ourselves, so that we were able 
to arrange between ourselves that husbands and 
wives were not divided, each pair having a com- 
partment to themselves. 

Ahmedabad was reached about half-past seven in 
the morning. A crowd of coolies usually rush to 
seize your baggage on the arrival of a train, and 
our bearer was useful in keeping them at bay a bit. 
There was a Dak bungalow at Ahmedabad, but 
we did not feel any decided leaning towards it, and, 
finding there were quite decent bedrooms to be 
had at the station and that we could feed in the 
refreshment-room, we decided to stay there. 

Carriages were to be had at from six to eight 
rupees a day, and we engaged one and had a drive 
through the town, stopping to see the mosques for 
which it is so famed. The Jama Musjid had a 
splendid, spacious court in front of it, walled around, 
the entrance being through a rather small door, 
where it is necessary for the visitors either to put 



50 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



off their shoes or to consent to have enormous 
loose ones of grass or matting tied on over their 
own, which seems to prevent desecration quite as 
efficiently. The mosque had fifteen domes, and 




i my) 




THE FEET OF PILGRIMS (aT MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUES) 



inside was a forest of white pillars (260), and a 
large gallery for the women, screened with pierced 
stone-work in lovely patterns. There were the 
marble tombs of Ahmad Shah — the builder of the 
mosque — and his son and grandson, richly carved 
in delicate relief, the sides being arcaded, and under 



AHMED AB AD 51 

each arch the representation of a hanging lamp, or 
censer, some of the latter showing an ornamental 
treatment of smoke ascending from them. 

The marble pavements had a peculiar fine dull 
polish, noticeable in mosque pavements throughout 
India, which is the result of the constant movement 
of the bare feet of the natives passing over their 
surface. The tombs of the queens of Ahmad Shah 
were carved with remarkable fineness. One, inlaid 
with delicate trees in white marble or black, was 
as fine as any Persian cabinet work in ivory. 

The Queen's Mosque, with three domes, contains 
charming carving and pierced screen-work. 

The mosque of Rani Sipri and her tomb are 
marvellously rich in fine carving in red sandstone 
and screen-work, and suggest in some of their 
forms and the rich incrustation of their ornament 
the influence of Hindu work, which, indeed, is a 
characteristic of many here. Beautiful pierced 
screens of stone-work, divided into panels by the 
supporting columns, enclose the tomb. 

For the loveliest designs, however, in pierced 
screen-work, one still turns to those of the windows 
of the Sidi Sayyids' Mosque, especially to the two 
wherein palms and rose-trees are combined in a 
sort of natural formation to form a lovely mesh of 
intricate, yet perfectly coherent and balanced 
pattern, which fills the tympanum shape of low- 
arched windows ; a design in light on dark seen 
from the outside, and in dark against light seen 
from within, when it fulfils its purpose of breaking 
up the light of the sun, and producing that enchant- 
ing luminous twilight so characteristic of Eastern 



52 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



interiors. There are reproductions of two of these 
windows at our Indian Museum at South Kensing- 
ton, but I had long desired to see the originals, and 
I was not disappointed. The warm light of the 




POOR RELATIONS 



late afternoon sun lingered in their interstices, and, 
seen from below, the under sides of the marble fret 
took rich golden reflections, which gave the designs 
quite a new aspect, and filled them with life and 
colour, giving the effect almost of sunlit foliage. 
We drove to see Shah Alam's Mosque, built about 
1420, which was reached in about half an hour 



AHMEDABAD 53 

beyond the city gates, along a cool avenue of 
acacias. The mosque has a fine court and minarets, 
and a splendid canopied tomb, with pillars inlaid 
with mother-o'-pearl ; beautiful metal-work in 
pierced brass gates and screens. 

On returning from this drive we stopped near 
the river Sarbarmati in a grove of trees, chiefly 
banyan, mango, and acacia. Here a native boy 
set up a peculiar hooting sort of call, and presently 
we saw troops of silver-grey monkeys dropping 
from the trees and gambolling along towards us 
between the stems — hundreds of them apparently 
— hurrying up to feed on the dried peas we scattered 
for them. They came crowding around us, but 
were quite friendly, and many would feed out of 
our hands. They varied much in size, but were 
mostly large, and carried their tails high in the air 
and curled over their backs in spirited curves when 
walking on all-fours. Many of the female monkeys 
carried their young ones with them. All looked 
beautifully clean and healthy, and were full of play 
— in fact as different as possible in their freedom 
from the poor captives in cages at zoological gar- 
dens. It was amusing to watch their pranks and 
to note the ease with which they would climb up 
into the trees, some of which were as full of monkeys 
almost as branches. 

As we left the monkeys we had another unusual 
sight. We saw a large and leafy mango tree lean- 
ing over the river, which seemed to have suddenly 
burst into white blossoms ; but we soon perceived 
these supposed flowers begin to flutter, and winged 
ones detached themselves from the mass of white, 



54 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



which we then discovered were white cranes. They 
would rise in a cloud and settle again ever and anon 
among the green foliage. They were a small kind, 



a. 







A FAMILY PARTY CRANES ON A MANGO TREE (SARBARMATI RIVEr) 

not larger than a heron, and are common all over 
India. We often saw them afterwards rising by 
the side of the pools by the railway track, or fishing, 
or flying over the submerged paddy fields, but in 
smaller numbers, and never so beautifully. 



AHMEDABAD 55 

On the white and dusty road to Ahmedabad we 
met numbers of wagons loaded with cotton bales 
and drawn by large white oxen. The country carts 
had wicker bodies, somewhat like those I have seen 
in Germany, and primitive massive wheels with 
eight spokes in a double cross. Camels were 
occasionally seen ridden by natives. As at Bom- 
bay, there were extensive cotton factories here, 
and cotton was very largely grown in the country 
around. 

The bazaars and the street life in Ahmedabad 
are most various and interesting, all sorts of trades 
and crafts being carried on. There is still a great 
quantity of silk- weaving done, and brocades wrought 
with gold thread. A proverb of the place quoted 
by Mr W. S. Caine has it that the prosperity of 
Ahmedabad hangs on three threads — " gold, silk, 
and cotton " ; and these three threads still symbolise 
the main industries of the city. A picturesque 
incident in the streets is the silk-winder — in some 
open space in front of the shops you may sometimes 
see a native woman standing (like Mr Holman 
Hunt's " Lady of Shalott ") within a low square 
enclosure formed of bamboo sticks wound with 
long strands of silk thread. She holds a sort of 
spindle in her left hand, and a long tapering wand 
in her right, by means of which she divides or 
resfulates the thread as she winds it off on to the 
bamboo sticks, rapidly twirling the spindle as she 
does so. It is an extremely pretty and picturesque 
sight. The old methods of hand-weaving are 
practised, and for weaving the brocades or " kincobs " 
the treadles in the loom are lifted from above by 



56 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

a boy, who draws up the cords attached to the 
threads of the warp according to the pattern the 
weaver is working. It is said that the native trade 
in the finer brocaded silks has been injured owing 
to the richer natives following the European fashion 
of dressing plainly, the rich silk woven with gold 
thread being only worn on state occasions, another 
instance of the depressing influence of Western ideas 
and habits upon the East. The rich merchants, and 
the Maharajahs and their court officials no doubt 
believe they are improving their style in adopting 
fashions from Europe, but the effect is practically 
only to vulgarise the native taste. The native 
princes and the well-to-do merchants now dash 
about in imported motor cars in raiment of dingy 
tints, instead of proudly prancing upon stately 
elephants and clothed in splendour and colour. 
Eastern life is made less joyous in its aspects by 
such changes. The mass of the people do not 
change, however, and seem to have no desire to, 
and they are the common people everywhere who 
p"ive the characteristic life and colour. Thousfh 
they only wear cotton or muslin, the beauty 
and variety of the tints are w^onderful, and fill 
the bazaars with a stream of ever - changing 
hues in the most unexpected combinations and 
harmonies. 

Driving through the bazaars at Ahmedabad, we 
came to a sort of open space from which several 
streets diverged, and here was being held a sort of 
open market of cloth — chiefly muslins and cottons 
of every variety of colour and pattern. These 
were laid out in piles on the ground, the merchants 



AH MED AE AD 



57 



squatting by their goods or spreading them out to 
show their customers. 

We stopped our carriage, and got our bearer to 
bring us some of the stuffs to look at and to inquire 
the prices, and we were soon surrounded by an 




STREET SCENE, AHMEDABAD 
ENGLISH TRAVELLERS SKETCHING AND MAKING PURCHASES 



eager crowd of dark faces and turbaned heads, and 
were nearly buried in a rainbow-tinted cloud of 
muslin and cotton cloth, amid which deliberate 
selection became difficult. I noted, however, many 
examples of the native method of dyeing cloths in 
patterns by the tying and dipping methods which 
often produce most delightful results, the pattern 
having a softer and more blended effect than the 
ordinary block printing. Although Manchester 



58 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

cottons were in evidence, it was pleasant to sefe 
that native methods were not forofotten, and were 
still in demand. 

The native pottery, too, at Ahmedabad is ex- 
tremely interesting, the common forms are always 
good, as indeed they are throughout India. Enor- 
mous earthen jars are made here to hold grain, or 
for carrying water from the river on ox-carts. The 
ordinary earthen water-jar, which the Hindu women 
carry on their heads, resembles the ancient Greek 
Hydria in form, and is so beautiful that it is dis- 
tressing to see it occasionally substituted by the 
hideous tin kerosine can — another European in- 
novation — much more difficult to balance one would 
think. In the streets of Ahmedabad occasional 
features are small, richly-carved octagonal minarets 
supported on posts, and looking like glorified 
pigeon houses. There is a big Hindu temple — a 
Jain temple of no antiquity, only about thirty or 
forty years old. The shrine of Hathi Sing. It 
has the characteristic pagoda domes, and is elabor- 
ately painted and decorated, though rather coarsely. 
The finest features were the marble pavements 
where, again, one noticed the peculiar soft polish 
given by bare feet. 

A very interesting excursion is that to Sarkhei, 
a drive of about seven miles outside the city gates. 
The road crosses the wide river Sarbarmati — or 
rather its bed, as the water shrinks into a rather 
narrow stream, and is almost lost sometimes among 
great stretches and banks of sand. At the water's 
edge, as we passed, we saw the people busy wash- 
ing clothes (which made a pretty coloured pattern 



AHMEDABAD 59 

when spread on the sands to dry) or themselves, or 
watering horses and bullocks, or refreshing their 
baskets of vegetables they had borne along the 
dusty ways by dipping them in the stream. 

Our road was deep in dust, but generally pleas- 
antly shaded by fine old trees, chiefly banyan, teak 
trees, and acacias. The little striped squirrels 
were very numerous and active, frisking up and 
down and around the tree stems. Monkeys were 
occasionally seen — of the same silver grey sort we 
had seen on our visit to the Mosque of Shah Alam — 
in the jungles at the side of the road, or in the trees. 
A bird rather like a largq bullfinch was common, 
and we saw many peacocks wandering about, and, 
of course, kites and crows everywhere. On the 
road we passed many a heavy-laden ox-cart, piled 
with bales of cotton, making their way to Ahme- 
dabad, as well as droves of white asses, and many 
groups of natives. About two miles out we saw at 
the side of the road a large brick-built Moham- 
medan Tomb, said to be the tomb of the architect 
of Sarkhei, who was a Persian. 

Further on our carriage turned out of the main 
road down a narrow lane to the right and up a 
steep bit of hill, flagged with flat stones. Presently 
we arrived in front of a fine gateway of Moslem 
architecture, which formed the entrance to a large 
quadrangle, shaded by a very old acacia tree. We 
had to put on the usual clumsy canvas shoes before 
entering this court, which enclosed the splendid 
mosque and tomb of Gunj Baksh (begun by Mah- 
mudshah in 1445 and finished by Begara in 1451), 
with a low, flat cupola, and many pilastered front, 



6o INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

the structures of the caps showing Hindu influence. 
There is a finely worked lattice screen of brass sur- 
rounding the octagonal shrine within, containing the 
tomb. The floor is inlaid with coloured marbles, 
and the roof is rich with gilding. An open pavilion 
stood in the court in front of the shrine, raised upon 
a platform, with steps supported by sixteen carved 
marble pillars. Opposite to this is a charming 
portico, through which one can get a glimpse of the 
great tank, though it was almost dried up when we 
saw it, the water hardly enough to conceal an alli- 
gator, though white cranes were standing in the 
pool in the forlorn hope of catching fish, and 
monkeys gambolled about the steps. On the side 
of the court near the entrance are the tombs of 
Mahmud Begara and his two sons— of the usual 
Mohammedan type, an arcaded pattern in low relief 
along the sides ; with censers hanging between the 
arches of similar type to those at Ahmedabad. 

There is a pathetic feeling of departed or half 
decayed splendour about Sarkhei, as well as a sense 
of romance and mystery, and one leaves it im- 
pressed with the idea of the refinement, sense of 
beauty, and spaciousness of the departed princely 
builders who lie buried within their own archi- 
tectural dream. 

There are always a number of hangers on about 
Indian tombs and temples, self-constituted guides, 
and persons of indefinite status and occupation who 
cluster around the arriving and departing stranger, 
who has to smooth his path with backsheesh, and 
Sarkhei is no exception. We had a hot drive 
along the dusky highway back to Ahmedabad in 



AHMED ABAD 6i 

the middle of the day, the sun blazing down very 
fiercely, and we were glad of the protection of the 
carriage hood. 

In the course of one of our evening drives about 
the town, our Moonsawmy pointed out an acacia 
tree we passed by the roadside which appeared to 
be full of what looked like large pendant pear- 
shaped fruit of black and golden brown colour. 
These, however, were really clusters of fruit-bats 
hanging in the tree until nightfall. Some of them, 
as we looked, were already moving and stretching 
out their wings in the last rays of the evening sun. 

We passed through the triple arched ancient 
gateway which stands at the head of the main 
street. The bazaars were crowded with buyers 
and sellers, chiefly of cotton and other stuffs. The 
people themselves in every variety of costume 
formed a wonderful scheme of colour, varied by 
the brownskins of babies and little children playing 
about quite naked, and the brown backs of the 
workers bending over their crafts. The whole 
scene fused in the light of after-glow and rich in 
tone and chiaroscuro. 



CHAPTER IV 

AHMEDABAD TO AJMIR 

THE railway station at Ahmedabad has the 
unusual distinction of two striking minarets 
of brick-work, richly cut and moulded in succes- 
sive circular tiers, which rise to a considerable 
height from amid the palms and plantains of a 
small well-watered Eastern garden, with many 
straight-cut paths between the thickly planted 
trees. These are the remains of a Mohammedan 
mosque which once stood there. It is an unusually 
interesting and pleasant place to wander in while 
waiting for a train. 

Our bearer secured a comfortable coupe for our 
journey to Ajmir, which was to be our next halting- 
place. We had originally intended to visit Mount 
Abu to see the wonderful Jain temples of Delwara, 
but before we reached the Abu road heavy rain came 
on, and as it would have meant a pony ride of 
sixteen miles from the station to Mount Abu, we 
decided to go on to Ajmir without a break. 

Leaving Ahmedabad at 8. 1 5 we breakfasted in 
the train, there being a restaurant car put on. The 
trains not being corridor trains it is necessary to 
get out at the stopping stations and find one's way to 
the car and back to one's carriage again. 

The country at first was very flat and generally 



AHMEDABAD TO AJMIR 63 

cultivated, but with occasional belts of jungle, where 
monkeys and peacocks were seen. Fine banyan 
and acacia trees here and there. Ploughing with 
oxen was going on, and the yoke of oxen drawing 
at the irrigation wells was a frequent sight. 

About the middle of the day dark clouds rolled 
up and we had a heavy shower with promise of 
more to come. Mountains came into view at the 
same time as the change in the weather, and it was 
not long before we reached Abu Road Station, 
The fine mountain range on the left of the line 
amid which Mount Abu was situated was veiled 
in cloud and rain, but as we left the mountains the 
sky cleared again, and we entered a flat, desert-like 
region covered with stunted trees or dry scrub 
bush, stretching for miles. A strange-looking 
country was afterwards traversed, where huge 
granite boulders lay on the earth like mounds and 
partly overgrown, others might have been imagined 
to be the shells of gigantic tortoises. At a station 
called Mori this characteristic was the most strikinor. 
The stations on this line through Rajpootana were 
built after the Moslem fashion and had a superficial 
resemblance to mosques, being domed, the smaller 
buildings and wayside signal huts being treated in 
the same manner. 

After a rainy sunset of orange and grey, dark- 
ness soon fell, and it was not long before we 
reached Ajmir after about twelve hours' travel — a 
distance of over three hundred miles. We found 
fairly comfortable quarters at the station re- 
freshment-rooms, the bedrooms being above and 
opening on to spacious terraces from which in- 



64 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

teresting views of the town and country could be 
had. The only drawbacks were the noises. What 
with the shrieks of the engines, and the perpetual 
conversazione carried on on the platforms, which 
were generally thronged with most picturesque 
crowds of natives, sleep was very broken. 

Ajmir is very beautifully situated, with a fine 
background of hills, the town itself being on a slope 
with an old fort crowning a height immediately 
above it. There is a large military station, the 
cantonments with the residency and the English 
bungalows lying on a plain quite away from the 
native town. 

We hired a carriaofe and drove around the town 
the morning after our arrival, visiting the old palace 
and massive fortress built by the Emperor Akbar, 
who has left so many noble buildings in the north- 
west of India to testify to his power and influence 
in the past. We entered through a noble gateway 
into a large quadrangle surrounded by tremendously 
high, thick walls and having octagonal bastions at 
four corners, A pavilion rose in the centre of the 
court, raised upon a platform led up to by steps of 
marble. Extensive restorations were beinsf carried 
on under the Indian Government, so much so that one 
had fears they were in danger of going too far in 
the direction of renewal, and did not draw the line 
with sufficient decision at the limits of preservation 
and repair. Certainly new work was being put in 
freely. It was interesting, however, to see that 
most beautiful and characteristic Indian craft of 
piercing patterns in marble being carried on. The 
native carver, turbaned and grey-bearded, was 



AHMEDABAD TO AJMIR 65 

squatting on the ground busy with a small marble 
grill or screen. He was drilling a geometric diaper 
pattern through a panel of marble which had a 
worked moulding for frame. The slab was bedded 
in clay to keep it from under the worker's hands, 
and to prevent splitting. When the holes were 
drilled he finished the work with chisels and mallet, 
workino- out the different bevels and facets of the 
quatre-foils, and putting in the work that which gave 
all the richness and the effect of the pattern. He 
seemed pleased to have his work noticed, and 
anxious that we should see it in its finished state 
he went to where a group of native women were at 
work on other similar grills which had left the 
carver's hands, cleaning the pierced patterns from 
the clay, and showed the completed panels clear 
cut in the white marble. It was noticeable that the 
women only did the cleaning and polishing up, but 
not the carving. 

We had a fine view from the ramparts and 
minarets of the pavilion. 

From the fort we went on driving througfh the 
bazaars of Ajmir, which were highly interesting but 
less busy and crowded, perhaps, than at Ahmedabad. 
Gay coloured cottons and muslins, embroidered 
slippers, pottery, and grain of all kinds were mostly 
in evidence, the latter arranged in heaps on cloths 
spread on the ground in front of the shops, and 
measured out by the traders squatting by their 
merchandise. The fronts of the native houses 
here were mostly in white plaster, often painted 
with designs in blue and yellow of formal flowers 
in vases, or quaint animals and figures in profile. 

E 



66 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

There was much fancy and variety in the design 
of the Httle arcaded projecting balconies corbelled 
out from the wall, and ogee arched windows, and 
moulded plaster and painted ornament. 

We presently, at the end of the principal street, 
approached the magnificent double gateway of the 
famous Dargah— named the Dilkasha (or "heart- 
expanding ") gate. From the street one really sees 
three ogee arches of different heights in succession, 
one beyond the other, the highest being flanked 
by towering minarets crowned with cupolas. The 
whole gateway in the bright morning sunlight looked 
a fairy-like aerial structure, fair and white, and 
glittering here and there with gold, and tile patterns 
in blue and yellow. 

The Dargah of Ajmir is revered as the burial-place 
of one Kwaja Sahib, a saint of the thirteenth 
century. His beautiful white and gold domed 
shrine enclosing his silver tomb occupies the centre 
of the inner court, and is visited by troops of pilgrims. 
A great festival is held in honour of the saint every 
year, when Ajmir is thronged with pilgrims. Two 
enormous iron pots are shown, standing each side 
the entrance to the Dargah, in which at the festival 
are cooked tons of food freely given to the pilgrims. 
The biggest pot is reputed to hold no less than 
10,000 lbs. of food. The food consists of mess of 
rice, oil, sugar, raisins, and almonds, which is rather 
suggestive of a sort of plum pudding, and on this 
scale costs about ^100. 

On first entering the Dargah through the great 
gateway one sees a large paved court with several 
domed tombs and a mosque, and rising high the 




SHRINE OF THE KWAJA, AJMIR 



AHMEDABAD TO AJMIR 67 

old fort of Tarrgarh, white-walled on the brown 
hill, is seen above. I noted a very fine bronze many- 
branched candelabra on one of the domed tombs. 
Passing- through this court the second court is 
entered where stands the shrine. It is surrounded 
by a low marble balustrade, and is picturesquely 
overshadowed by a large ancient ilex tree, through 
the spreading branches of which with their masses 
of rich dark foliage glows the colour and gold of 
the richly decorated shrine. Through the open doors 
gleam the silver of the tomb, and the ivory-like dome 
fretted and crested with gold sparkling in the full 
light of the sun pierces the deep blue sky. Curious 
low tapering pedestals with small cupolas at the 
top are placed about the courts and around the 
shrine at intervals. These are pierced with small 
recesses, in which, on festival occasions, small lamps 
are placed. Beyond the shrine we come out upon 
a high-walled terrace which extends with a succes- 
sion of bays along the sides of a deep narrow tank, 
flights of steps leading down to the water's edge at 
different points. 

It is the custom when visitors leave the Darpah for 
the attendants to hang garlands of flowers about 
their necks, and in return for this graceful attention 
an ofl"erIng to the shrine — or to its hangers on — 
is expected. 

The visitor is, however, rather carefully watched 
inside the Dargah. The shrine itself is not allowed 
to be entered. Shoes must be removed on entering 
the court, or the big canvas shoes put on over 
them. On sketching intent I was not allowed to 
pitch a camp stool near the shrine or in the sacred 



68 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

precincts, and even open umbrellas, for shade, were 
objected to by these jealous watchful devotees. 

From the Dar^ah we went to see the roofless 
mosque of " Arhai-din-ka-Jhonpra," which being 
interpreted signifies "The house of two and a half 
days." It is on the hill opposite the fort, but on the 
lower slope, and is approached through narrow streets, 
and finally reached by a steep flight of steps which 
lead to the gateway of the court of the mosque. 
It is now little more than a beautiful red sand-stone 
carved screen of open pointed arches, but the detail 
is exceedingly rich and happy in scale, and largely 
consists of bordering inscriptions outlining the 
arches and their rectangular framings, the texts 
beino- in both Cufic and Togra characters, and 
both these and the surface decoration generally are 
delicately but sharply cut in sunk carving, which 
preserves a certain unity of ornamental effect. 
Arranged along the side of the court are many 
carved fragments which are the remains of the Jain 
Temple, transformed into the Mussulman Mosque 
in the year 1236 by Altamash, who conquered the 
city, and was said to have effected the transformation 
in two and a half days. 

The mosque was not used for worship. In the 
court a rope or cord maker was at work. The 
white strands stretched over canes from the man 
workine at one end of the walk to where at the 
other end his assistant sat at a sort of wheel by 
means of which the strands were twisted into a 
cord of the required thickness. 

After this we drove to the Daulat Bagh 
(Garden of splendour) — then passing through a 



AHMEDABAD TO AJMIR 69 

beautiful park full of pine-trees we came to the 
white marble pavilion built by Shah Jehan, standing 
on a marble balustraded terrace, and overlooking 
a lovely lake, bounded by mountains — a lovely 
spot. The pavilion has been restored by the 
Indian government, and looks quite new. Marble, 
however, does not seem to weather or discolour in the 
Indian climate, and the difference between new and 
old is not nearly so marked as in European countries, 
while the imitative faculty of the Hindu workman 
and the traditions of craftsmanship under which he 
still works help to complete the illusion when 
restoration is done. New or old, it was an enchant- 
ing place, especially when the evening sun floods the 
whole scene with golden light, streaming through the 
trees, and filling the marble porticoes with warm 
colour. The lake still as a mirror, reflecting the 
fairy palace and the dreamy distance in its glassy 
surface. The chief commissioner should be happy 
.to have his residence in the midst of this lovely 
garden. The lake is as useful too as it is beautiful, 
as from it is obtained the water supply of Ajmir. 

Another of our evening drives was through the 
cantonments outside the native city. We passed 
through the English military quarters, and saw the 
long low barrack-like bungalows of the soldiers, clean 
and neat, but bare and ugly. There were more 
comfortable bungalows of the officers and other 
English residents in gardens and amid trees, with 
entrance gates and drives, almost suburban, allow- 
ing for little diff"erences in detail. The names of 
the residents, for instance, were painted in white 
block letters on ugly black boards placed outside 



70 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

the gates of the gardens. There was the usual 
club-house in a landscape garden, and here a 
military band of native infantry was playing, con- 
ducted by a man in a straw hat. English ladies, 
and children with their native aejahs and bearers 
scattered about the lawns. 

On the road a little distance from the town a 
large number of natives were busy making up the 
road over a new bridge across the railway. Many 
of these coolies were very attenuated, and might 
have come from the famine districts. 

Passing through the bazaar on my return from 
sketchino- in the Dargrah, I noticed among- the stalls 
of a crowded and picturesque native street a crafts- 
man at work putting a border pattern upon the 
edge of a piece of orange-coloured muslin. He 
first printed or stamped the border, a small leaf and 
flower pattern, from a wood block with some sort of 
size of a brown colour, and when this was sufficiently 
"tacky" he laid on silver leaf over the pattern 
thus defined by the block in size, and finished by 
brushing away the superfluous leaf with a soft 
brush, much as our gilders do. 

A quaint eflect was produced by the camels here, 
laden with orreat sheafs of suo-ar-cane, which trailed 
behind, spreading out over their hind quarters in a 
way that suggested skirts or a crinoline — viewed 
from behind. 

From our terrace over the railway station we 
could observe the varied groups of natives which 
continually thronged the platforms and the yards 
outside. Certainly the native in India makes 
constant use of the railways, although the railways 



AHMEDABAD TO AJMIR 



71 



do not take any trouble to make them comfortable. 
The native carriages seem always in an over- 
crowded state, and many of them are rather 




THE camel's crinoline (SUGAR CANE) AJMIR 

suggestive of cattle trucks with rough wooden 
partitions. Troups of natives will come to a 
railway station and camp all night waiting for some 
train in the morning. On inquiring what classes or 
manner of people these poor travellers mostly were, 
I was told that they comprised chiefly pilgrims to 
various shrines and festivals in different parts of the 
country, and small traders. The Ryot, or agri- 



72 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

culturist, did not travel much, as might be supposed. 
The people usually bore great bundles with them, 
bedding presumably, and other necessaries for long 
journeys. These the women carried upon their 
heads. In the evenings groups of natives would 
be seen gathered round fires made on the ground. 
These were often mere flares of straw, and did not 
last very long, though they may have served to 
mitigate the chill of the nightfall, which is always 
so sudden in India. 

As evidence of the extraordinary variety of 
colour arrangements in the costume of the natives 
in the bazaars, here are a few notes made of the 
colours worn by passers-by, both men and women, 
at Ajmir observed in the course of a few minutes. 

1. Citron tunic, emerald green turban, white 
trousers. 

2. Buff turban black tunic, white trousers. 

3. (Woman.) Large vermilion cloak, pink skirt. 

4. Pea green turban, crimson velvet tunic, white 
trousers. 

5. Orange turban, black tunic, white trousers. 

6. White turban, wound round a red fez, deep 
brown (jrange cloak thrown over brown jacket and 
white breeches. 

7. Orange muslin simply covering head and body, 
scarlet trousers. (Mohammedan woman.) 

8. Turquoise turban, golden orange tunic (long) 
lined with pale yellow. 

The agricultural country folks generally wore 
white, though it was rather a dusky white. Groups 
of herdsmen were occasionally seen with long, 
straight wands, their dark faces and bare limbs 



AHMEDABAD TO AJMIR -jz 

emerging from white cotton turbans, tunics and 
cloaks. 

Travellers in India as well as Eng-lish residents 
are often greeted with salaams in the native bazaars 
and passers-by on the road. The word '* salaam" 
is pronounced by natives sometimes in a tone almost 
of command, but as far as I could understand it was 
intended to suggest a mutual exchange of saluta- 
tions, or even the word alone might be taken as a 
salutation sometimes ; but it is always expected that 
an answering salute of some kind will be given, but 
it is said that one should never salute with the left 
hand if it is wished to avoid offence. The ordinary 
mode of salutation in any country should be care- 
fully observed, as in no way can offence be more 
easily given, however inadvertently, by any 
apparent neglect of what are considered the 
ordinary courtesies of life sanctioned by the 
customs of a country. 

It is true that the native children seemed some- 
times inclined to mock at a stranger, in a spirit of 
monkey mischief, perhaps, but there are little street 
gamins in any city, and the latest product of our 
civilisation, the London street arab, would be difficult 
to beat anywhere. East or West. 



CHAPTER V 

CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUR 

FROM Ajmir there is a branch line to Chitor- 
garh and Udaipur, and no traveller in India 
should miss the opportunity of visiting both these 
highly interesting places. Leaving Ajmir, the 
railway runs south through a rather fiat country, 
passing Naisirabad, an important British military 
station. The English "Tommy" in khaki, and 
white helmet and putties, or the sun-burned, brown- 
booted and spurred British cavalry officer, were in 
evidence at the railway station. Among the native 
crowd here we saw a turbaned man in pink carry- 
ing a very thin, aged woman, probably his mother, 
pick-a-back fashion. 

A very dry and almost desert tract of country is 
traversed after this, though occasionally varied by 
irrigated fields and green crops. The irrigation 
wells, worked by oxen as before, and the native 
ploughing, were the chief incidents In the land- 
scape. The plough is a very primitive-looking 
implement with a single shaft, with a cross handle 
fixed at right angles to the shaft, which consists of 
a sharpened piece of wood, tipped with iron. The 
plough is drawn by a pair of zebus, and is light 
enough for the man to lift up and turn at the end 
of the furrow, or even to be carried home on his 



CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUR 75 

shoulder at the end of the day. There were thick 
hedges of spikey sort of cactus, branching out from 
a main stem, something Hke candelabra, the fronds 
growing in a longitudinal, rigid form. These 
hedges fenced the railway line from the fields on 
the desert. Another plant of common occurrence, 
both here and all over India, was a broad-leaved 
shrub of symmetric order, having small, pale, lilac 
flowers, the stems rather a yellow, and the leaves 
a lightish blue green. We noted also a sort of wild 
laburnam. The prickly pear was common, and a 
sort of prickly acacia-like shrub much liked by 
camels. The trees were mostly various acacias, the 
banyan tree (Ficus), and the teak. In places we 
saw both date and cocoa palms. At one station 
(Mandal) the level plains, with pyramidal hills in 
the distance and a grove of palms and camels in 
the foreground, again recalled Egypt. 

The cultivated crops we passed were cotton, 
tobacco, rice, wheat, and sugar cane. 

At every station may be seen the water filter, a 
wooden tripod stand, holding three red earthen 
water-jars, one above the other. The natives 
drink quantities of water, and always carry a small 
drinking-vessel of bright brass, which they take 
every opportunity of filling. The water-bearer is a 
characteristic figure everywhere, and comes up to 
the train with his cry, " Panee ! panee ! " which 
(with an Italian prepossessed ear) is more suggest- 
ive of another, and solid, necessary of life. Bread, 
however, in Hindustanee, happens to be "roti." 

Having left Ajmir by the 9.20 a.m. train, we 
arrived at Chitorgarh about five in the evening, and 



76 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

put up at the station room? for the night. There 
was a considerable crowd on the long, open, 
gravelled platform, mainly natives, with a small 
contingent of English and American tourists. 
European tourists in India, however, were generally 
few and far between, the United States being much 
more numerously represented. A picturesque group 
was formed by a native resident from Udaipur, 
with his retinue, waiting for their train on. The 
chief was a venerable and a kindly-looking man, with 
white hair and beard, reminding one rather of the 
late G. F. Watts. He was gaily dressed in a pink 
turban and a lilac silk coat, and was seated on a 
chair on the platform, surrounded by his attendants 
in scarlet ; among these was his trumpeter, with a 
bugle slung around him, and a quad of four 
soldiers in khaki and turbans. 

We found the Traveller's Bungalow was about 
three-quarters of a mile or so away from the 
station. The bedrooms were all taken by the 
English and American parties, but we could feed 
there, so, retaining our quarters at the station, we 
walked to the Bungalow for our dinner. It was a 
lovely moonlight night, with bright stars, but there 
was a cold north wind as we were guided by our 
bearer with a lantern along a rather rough track, 
and crossed the railway to the Bungalow, a new 
stone building, bare and cheerless as they make 
them, standing all by itself in a stoney yard without 
a tree near it. The dinner, or supper, was not 
very rewarding, and we trudged back again to the 
station in the cold moonlight. The station we 
found quieter than usual. The servants of the 



CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUK ^^ 

resident had encamped upon the platform, and 
formed picturesque groups around fires, cooking 
and gossiping ; their master sleeping in the train, 
which was drawn up ready to start for Udaipur 
early the next morning. 

It seems highly necessary for travellers in India 
anywhere off the track of hotels to provide them- 
selves with bedding of some sort, at least quilts, 
rugs, sheets, and pillows. The nights at this time 
of year in Rajpootana are quite cold, and warm 
wraps are welcome. 

The next morning we engaged a large elephant 
— which waited at the station to take travellers to 
Chitorgarh — to carry us to the fort and deserted 
city on the height we could see from the station. 
This was a distance of some seven miles there and 
back, it was said. 

The elephant was made by the driver to kneel 
while we mounted, by means of a ladder of bamboo, 
and seated ourselves on the flat, cushioned seat, 
having a low hand-rail and a foot board, slung by 
ropes. The elephant moved with a peculiar sway- 
ing, swinging movement, not unlike that of a ship, 
though regular. We started over a stretch of 
rough, common-like ground, broken into hillocks 
and hollows, overgrown with scrub bush, the track 
not being very definite. The elephant picked its 
way most carefully over the rough parts, especially 
when descending a hollow. We reached a road- 
way which led over a bridge across a river, and 
brought us up to the city of Chitor at the foot of 
the hill, and extending upon, its lower slopes. We 
entered the city through a Moslem arched gateway, 



78 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



and threaded our way through the narrow streets, 
our elephant filHng the whole of the road-way. 
Pottery, beads, glass bracelets, cheap lacquered 




FIRST ELEPHANT RIDE. (cHITORGARH) 

ornaments, and small merchandise of various kinds 
were spread out on the ground, their proprietors 
squatting by their stock in trade. The native 
houses were small and low, for the most part hardly 
more than huts of mud, roofed with sun-baked 
tiles, laid scalewise over a trellis of bamboo, often 
very dilapidated. There were remains of better 
houses and older, with arcaded balconies, and here 



CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUR 79 

and there we passed a small white-washed temple, 
with quaint elephants with gay housings painted 
in profile on the white walls each side the entrance. 
These elephants are drawn in a very spirited 
manner, and are generally represented going at a 
trot, and full of action with trunk and tail in the 
air, decorated with bells on his feet and ororeeous 
red and yellow housings and domed howdah, set 
off by the solid black of the elephant and his ivory 
tusks, the turbaned driver flourishing his goad. 
From our commanding eminence, the elephant's 
back, we could take a comprehensive survey of the 
life of the city, and see the people at work at vari- 
ous trades. The inhabitants did not take much 
notice of us ; some would stare and others would 
salaam as we passed. I imagine the elephant with 
European travellers on its back not infrequently 
passed through Chitor, although we managed to 
startle a tethered camel in one of the streets con- 
siderably, and the animal tugged at its rope and 
plunged alarmingly at the sight of our elephant. 

Leaving the city of Chitor, which seemed very 
poverty-stricken, we reached the first gate of the 
fortress, and began the ascent of some 200 or 300 
feet. The road zig-zags up the side of the rocky 
plateau, upon the summit of which the fort and 
ancient city were built, the ancient capital of 
Rajpootana. Massive walls protect this road on 
the outer side, and a continuous warder's walk runs 
along it, with flights of stone steps to the roadway 
at intervals. We passed through five gateways on 
the way up, generally enriched with sculptured 
ornament — the last one. Ram Pol, being the rich- 



8o INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

est, and this was finely carved with Hindu detail 
and symbols, having friezes of elephants. There 
have been extensive restorations at Chitorgarh. 
The whole lenofth of the wall seems to have been 
gone over, and replastered, and in many places 
rebuilt with new stone. The tops of the gates 
were crenellated in a fashion which suggested a 
perpetuation in stone of an earlier type of wooden 
palisading, a horizontal band connecting the rounded 
or pointed stone heads, the divisions between each 
being continued below it. In many cases the old 
massive wooden gates were left under the arch- 
ways, bound with old iron bands. By the way, at 
Ajmir we noted that the wooden doors of the 
gateways to the courts were covered with old 
horse-shoes nailed on, close together, in some 
instances actually over the old rich carved work, 
and apparently with the same idea of good 
omen as is associated with the same emblem in 
our country. 

Arrived at the summit there were wonderful 
ruins to be seen. Scattered over the plateau, half 
overgrown, amid heaps of shattered stones and 
carved fragments, there were the remains of 
Mohammedan palaces and Hindu or Jain Temples, 
rich within and without with intricate carving. 

The guides showed us where the Hindu Oueen and 
the women of the city, all suffocated themselves in a 
subterranean chamber to escape their fate had they 
fallen into the hands of the Mohammedan con- 
querors, when Ala-ud-din took Chitor by storm in 
1290. 

The hand of the restorer was seen here again 



CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUR 8i 

and had been in some parts rather too thorough. 
I noticed an arcade over the gateway of the Mos- 
lem Palace, which seemed to have been entirely 
rebuilt in a kind of pale green marble, almost the 
colour of jade, quite sharply cut and new, and out 
of keeping with the old work more or less battered 
and ruined around it. The famous Tower of Victory 
had been extensively restored, even the carving in 
parts recut. This is going too far, as it is impos- 
sible to unite modern workmanship with old, even 
in India. Watchful and careful, timely repair is 
the only way to preserve ancient buildings, but 
there should be no attempt made to replace lost 
carving and decoration by modern imitation. 

We entered over broken steps a wonderful Jain 
temple, very richly carved, with a remarkable 
domed ceiling over the central chamber, arranged 
in a series of concentric circles, intersected by 
figures of dancing girls, with emblems radiating 
from the centre. Another Jain temple formed a 
most picturesque pile, and a delightful mass of 
light and shade filled in with intricate detail, in the 
full sunlight. In these temples a favourite deity is 
Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, whose carved 
image constantly appears. 

In one part of the ancient city we came upon 
some natives preparing cotton yarn for hand weav- 
ing. The yarn was stretched in long lengths across 
horizontal canes supported by vertical ones. They 
seemed to be cleaning the threads with combs and 
brushes. The little black-bristled hand-brushes 
placed on the top of the turbaned heads when not 
in use had a very quaint effect. 



82 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Having explored the ruins of Chitorgarh, we re- 
mounted our good elephant, which waited for us, 
and descended, moving rather jokingly down the 
long hill, and frightening a pony and a camel 
tethered in the main street of Chiton The sun 
was now blazing, it being noontide, though tempered 
by the still cool wind from the north, which we had 
found really cold in the morning. 

Returning the way we had come to our quarters at 
the station, after taking tiffin at the bungalow we 
arranged to go on to Udaipur in the morning, and 
were advised to sleep in the train, which waited in 
the station all night, and left at 6.20 a.m. for 
Udaipur. So we packed up and went on board 
and took our berths, which were on the whole more 
comfortable than the station beds. 

In the morning our compartment was invaded 
by a young Indian who wanted a seat, but we had 
kept it to ourselves during the night, which was 
cold enough, and we were glad of all our wraps. 
The young Indian was a pleasant, bright, and in- 
telligent young fellow who spoke English well, well 
clad in the style of a native gentleman, with plenty 
of wraps and overcoats. He was obviously curious 
about us, and wanted to know all we would tell him. 
He seemed to have a great wish to see London, 
and asked us about the cost of living there, and 
whether a Hindu could live there accordino- to his 
reliofion without meat. He described India as "a 
poor country," and wondered that we should journey 
so far to see it. He was bound for some town 
where his father lived, sixty miles by tonga from 
Udaipur, being under orders not to stop at the 



CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUR S3 

latter place, as his father had told him there was 
plague there, and wished him to come on. 

The train passed through a very flat and rather 
cheerless country, exceedingly dry, and for the most 
part covered with long jungle grass, but varied here 
and there by green crops under irrigation. 

Camels were occasionally seen, generally ridden 
by two men ; also there were many herds of oxen 
and buffaloes. As usual, there were many interest- 
ing types and groups to be observed at the stations. 

Approaching Udaipur, the country broke into 
hills and became more interesting. We reached 
Udaipur Station about 1 1.30, and bidding good-bye 
and exchanging cards with the young Hindu, we 
parted with our baggage into a little open cart 
called a " tum-tum," and were driven some distance, 
along a dusty road, to the Udaipur Hotel, which 
looked like an expanded bungalow with a second 
storey added on. Here we found pleasant quarters 
and decent beds. 

At the table- d'hote there was a rather frigid 
Anglo-Indian family, a colonel on a tour of official 
inspection and his secretary and their ladies ; also 
a voluble American lady, whom we had seen at 
Ajmir, and a rather lofty and superior English 
military man and his wife, who, we were after- 
wards informed, were the guests of the Maharajah. 

In meeting one's compatriots aboard or indeed 
anywhere without an introduction one is reminded 
by their manner strongly of the Oxford Don who 
could not do anything to save an unfortunate 
undergraduate from drowning because " he had not 
been introduced." 



84 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Here, in a remote part of India, chance had 
thrown half-a-dozen EngHsh people together at the 
same table, and yet they would hardly speak to 
each other, that is to say to any new-comer 
outside their own party. Nothing, however, daunts 
the American traveller, especially the American 
lady. She ignores the social ice, or if she per- 
ceives it she boldly breaks it with a hatchet, as it 
were, rushing in under the guns of the most frigid 
and unapproachable personalities with a cheerful 
and persistent fire of conversation, poppingin leading 
questions with the most artless and childlike con- 
fidence. This mode of attack generally succeeds, 
too, apparently. I have seen severe English 
official and military-looking men, after some show 
of resistance, unconditionally surrender, and pre- 
sently empty their intellectual pockets on the demand 
of these light-hearted, table-d'hote, globe-trotting 
inquisitors, 

A picturesque feature of hotel life in India is the 
impromptu bazaar formed under the arcade, which 
always shades the rooms on the ground floor, by the 
travelling merchants, who spread out their wares to 
tempt the traveller. 

In Rajpootana, the land of warriors, collections of 
arms, swords, sword-sticks, knives and daggers, and 
fearsome and wonderful blades of all sorts form a 
conspicuous part of the stock-in-trade of these 
native merchants, the glittering steel making a 
brave show with the bright-coloured stuffs, jewellery, 
and embroideries. At Udaipur they offered also 
native pictures, painted in tempera, somewhat cruc|e 
but distinctly decorative, and complete with painted 



CHITORGARH AND UDATPUR 85 

borders or frames. They represented elephants, 
tigers, maharajahs sabring wild swine, and such- 
like, painted in profile in frank flat colours, the 




RAJPUTS AND THEIR RARITIES. (uDAIPUR) 



animals singularly faithful in silhouette to nature. 
In dealing with these travelling traders, bargaining 
is, of course, expected, and usually they are willing 
to accept about half the price originally asked. 

An impressive sight at Udaipur is the place of 
tombs, or the burning-place, which is a beautiful 
garden surrounded by a high wall, full of magnificent 
domed tombs and cenotaphs. This is the place 
where the Kings of Udaipur, since it became the 



86 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

capital of Rajpootana, have been buried, or rather 
cremated, with their wives. The city of Udaipur 
■ — a ghmpse of which, with its crenellated walls and 
the huge pile of the Maharajah's palace rising above 
the trees, is seen from the hotel — is entered, after a 
short drive through a fine double gateway. A huge 
old mango tree grows over the street just inside. 
Udaipur is a white town ; the streets are very 
picturesque, having arcaded bazaars and pretty 
fantastic balconies here and there, and the native 
life is of course very varied and full of colour. 
The main street rises up to the eminence on which 
the palace stands. At an angle before this is 
reached, a steep flight of white steps leads up to the 
gate of the court of the great temple of Juggernath 
— a Jain temple dedicated to Vishnu — the second 
person in the Hindu Trinity. It was the finest of 
its kind we have yet seen. We were allowed to 
walk around the court and examine the carvings, 
but not inside the temple. Two great stone 
elephants stand facing one another at the entrance 
to the court — a similar arrangement to that noted 
at Ellora. There is an elaborate shrine over the 
gateway in which is a seated bronze or brass figure of 
Vishnu with his lotus flower, snakes, and other 
emblems. The exterior of the temple is a 
wonderful mass of carving. On the plinth was a 
continuous narrow frieze of elephants on a small 
scale, having the effect of a richly carved moulding ; 
above this was a line of horses, all saddled and 
bridled but without riders ; above this again was a 
band of human figures. Over these were carved 
on a larger scale a series of figures ot dancing-girls 



CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUR 87 

in different attitudes. These dancers always form 
an important element in the carved decoration of 
Jain temples. 

We next visited the palace of the Maharajah, 
which occupies the highest ground in the city of 
Udaipur. It is a vast, romantic-looking pile. The 
steep street leads the traveller up to a great arched 
gateway, and through this is entered a large oblong- 
court. On the right, the vast white palace walls 
rise to a great height, with hardly any windows, 
but high up are seen fairy-like arcades, balconies, and 
domed minarets, Mitteringf with blue tile-work and 
gold. 

A native custodian conducted us over the Palace. 
Entering an inner court, we ascended a steep stone 
staircase at an angle, the treads rising about nine or 
twelve inches high. There were native paintings on 
the walls of richly caparisoned state elephants bearing 
maharajahs, tigers, and other figures. We passed 
through a succession of rooms and courts at 
different levels, the walls of white marble inlaid 
with a very fine sort of glass mosaic, not tessellated 
but let in in pieces cut large or small according to 
the forms to be expressed. These were generally 
figures always in severe profile, in elaborate costume, 
and jewels the details of which were carefully and 
richly rendered. Flowers and delicate palm trees 
varied the designs, done in the same way, the leaves 
and small component parts being cut complete in 
the glass. There were also formal floral borders 
outlining the arches of the arcades, and forming 
ceiling patterns In some of the rooms, and on the 
walls were hung in frames delicate paintings on 



88 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

vellum, heightened with gold, such as one sees in old 
Indian illuminated MSS. In some of the corridors 
it was rather a shock to see inserted in the windows 
pieces of crudely stained European glass, such as 
were in vogue in conservatories here in the 
" forties." One room was entirely decorated with 
coloured glass, the walls being veneered with a 
zigzag pattern in red and white glass. 

Other and smaller rooms in the Zenana quarters, 
which we had now reached, and all at the top storey 
of the Palace, were lined with old Dutch tiles, 
others a^ain with Chinese blue and white tiles. 
These rooms had graceful, arcaded balconies which 
commanded extensive views. We had a bird's-eye 
view of the palace courts and the stable yards, 
where elephants were tethered in long rows, the 
busy natives moving about with horses and oxen. 
Beyond were seen the clustering, small white houses 
with flat roofs, broken by domes here and there, 
the green wooded country and the hills far away, 
while on the other side of the palace the lake with 
its pavilioned islands mirrored the sunset framed in 
the blue mountains. 

At night we frequently heard the weird cries of 
the jackals which prowl around most places in 
India after dark, and when all is quiet in human 
habitations. It is a very wild, shrill sound, rising 
almost to a shriek at times. We also thought we 
caught another note — the laughter of the hyena. 

A charming excursion by boat may be made 
to the palace of Jagmandir, which occupies the 
whole of an island on the lake, a fairy-like pavilion 
enclosing luxuriant palms and fruit trees within its 



CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUR 89 

courts and gardens In which one reaHsed the 
architecture and scenery of the Arabian Nights. 

We reached the lakeside through a fine triple- 
arched gate which led to a flight of steps descend- 
ing into the water. Here a striking scene burst 
upon us. A crowd of dark Hindu women thronged 
the steps, clad for the most part in rich red saris 
of different tones, varied by orange and purple 
di apery and the glitter of their silver bangles 
and anklets. They were busy cleaning their brass 
water jars, scrubbing and polishing them on the 
steps at different levels ; some standing in the 
water, whilst others, filling their vessels and poising 
them on their heads, would move away stately and 
erect, like walking caryatids. 

Presently a rather heavy boat with two native 
oarsmen, which had been summoned by our guide 
moved from the palace to the steps and we, with 
our bearer, embarked, and were rowed over to the 
enchanting island and the fairy-like palace of 
Jagmandir where Shah Jehan lived when in revolt 
against his father, Jahangir. On the way we 
rowed around another island showing white arcades 
and domes emerging from green bowery foliage 
of mangoes and palms. 

Landing at the steps we found the Jagmandir a 
most lovely place, full of arcaded courts, and marble 
pavements, pointed windows and balconies and 
marble walls enclosing green gardens full of roses, 
and palms, and plantains, a kingly pavilion, 
displaying all the invention and refinement of 
Mogul art. Inside, too, the palace was full of 
interest. There was a charming little painted 



90 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

chamber, the walls treated in a sort of tapestry 
manner with Indian scenes and decorative land- 
scapes rich with trees and varied with all the 
characteristic birds and animals (the white cranes 
on the mango tree which we had seen in reality 
at Ahmedabad were there) kites and crows, and 
antelopes, and the Maharajah and his horsemen 
hunting the tiger amid these painted forests and 
jungles. On one wall the Maharajah himself was 
painted at full length in profile in a white turban 
and dress also white embroidered with gold, with 
a gold nimbus about his head as he is supposed to 
be descended from Rama, and is considered a sacred 
person connected with the sun — a large sun face 
modelled and guilded appears on the palace 
wall. 

Another room was said to have been painted by 
a French artist. He had taken the lotus as a 
motive and had tuned it into a formal scroll 
pattern in the frieze, but it was not a success, and 
had not the interest or the spirit or decorative 
instinct of the native artist. 

The chief salon had Parisian carpets on the floor, 
and a dreadful blue glass chandelier, and other 
horrors in glass and furniture of Western origin. 
Opening out of this salon was a bedroom raised a 
step or two on a higher level and the principal 
feature here was a large bedstead in glass and 
silver ! On the walls of one of the courts was a 
decoration in o-esso inlaid with olass, which was 
both delicate and effective. There were figures 
decoratively treated in severe profile, combined 
with trees and flowers somewhat Persian in feeliny 



CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUR 91 

and similar in style to some we had seen in the 
Maharajah's palace. 

From the landing-place I made a sketch of that 
palace in the sunlight reflected in the calm waters 
of the lake. Then, at noon we rowed back to the 
town and returned in our tonga to the hotel. 

Another of the sights of Udaipur is to see the 
Maharajah's wild pigs fed. He has an arena near 
the town for the cruel sport of pig-sticking, but 
keeps vast herds of pigs upon the mountain sides 
at the head of the lake. It is a beautiful drive to 
the spot through the city and out at a further gate, 
and throueh eroves and alono- a terrace-like road 
by the lakeside, to a white building on a high 
ground overlooking the wooded and rocky moun- 
tain side, partially covered with low forest ; there 
from a terrace we could see many swine feeding. 
They are like a small kind of wild boar, but 
differing in size, and very fierce, bristling their 
backs and charging one another over the food, 
which was Indian corn, scattered broadcast among 
them by two natives, one carrying the sack of 
grain and the other distributing it from a sort 
trencher. There was a sort of Brobdingnagian 
mouse-trap on the ground, presumably to catch 
the boars in, when wanted for the arena. There 
were but few boars at first to be seen, but they 
seemed to know the feeding time, and gradually 
gathered in large numbers, and when the grain was 
scattered, by their constant rushes after it and 
violent charges with each others soon raised such a 
thick cloud of dust that they became lost to view 
as in a thick mist, and could only hear their hoofs 



92 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

scraping over the rocky ground, and their savage 
grunts and squeaks. A number of peacocks 
hovered on the outskirts on the look out for stray 
grain as well as blue rocks and crows which often 
perched on the hogs' backs ! The terrace from which 
we surveyed this strange scene was really the para- 
peted fiat roof of the keeper's dwelling. A 
flight of steps led up to a higher terrace which 
surrounded a deep sort of bear-pit, where a select 
family of hogs seemed to be treated with peculiar 
distinction. Not for these the fierce strua-^le for 
grain upon the mountain side, when the battle was 
to the strong ; no, these were fed upon a special 
food — a sort of large brown rissole composed of 
buttermilk and sugar-cane ; but the hogs were fat 
and did not devour these attractive morsels, even 
with half the zest which their less favoured relatives 
outside ate up the scattered maize. The reason of 
the comparative luxury in which these selected 
hogs lived, we learned, was that they had fought 
with tigers, and thus were treated as superior 
beings, by order of the Maharajah. 

The wooded shores of the lake and the moun- 
tains beyond were very beautiful in the still 
evening atmosphere, as we drove back to Udaipur, 
the road by the lake being so narrow that two 
carriages could not pass, and, meeting the Resident, 
we had to pull in to one side to let his carriage 
get by. 

There was a charming view of Udaipur from 
our hotel seen through the trees, the massive 
Maharajah's palace dominating the city, and bathed 
in the roseate early morning sunlight it looked 



CHITORGARH AND UDATPUR 93 

particularly lovely. I worked at a sketch of this on 
Christmas morning ; I remember, having to be up 
at seven o'clock in order to catch the effect, which 
soon changed. We had the most brilliant moon- 
light nights here, too. 

We visited the Maharajah's gardens where was 
a sort of Zoo. There were some handsome tigers 
in rather small cages, hogs, leopards, one lion, 
deer, guinea-pigs, geese, cockatoos, and other 
birds and beasts, including some melancholy dogs 
of various breeds, chained at intervals around a 
courtyard. These were supposed to be in hospital. 

From the Zoo we drove through a fine wooded 
park to the Museum called the Victoria Institute, 
where a native curator showed us round. It was a 
white building in the Moslem style but quite new. 
It included a library in which was placed a bad 
statue of our late Queen. There were modelled 
heads in coloured plaster, ranged in cases numbered 
and ticketed, of all the Hindu castes, each with 
their proper caste mark upon their foreheads. 
There was a miscellaneous collection otherwise, 
native arts and industries and antiquities, as well 
as European, being represented very sparsely. 
The whole thing had a sort of forced and artificial 
character in such surroundings and was quite empty 
of visitors. We were, however, early there. 

In driving through the gate of the city, a funeral 
passed us — a band of young men bearing on a 
stretcher the corpse which was swathed in red 
cotton and tightly bound up like a mummy. The 
bearers moved at a quick, almost jaunty pace, 
approaching a trot, and with them were other 



94 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

natives who chanted a sort of song. If it was an 
equivalent for a dirge it was quite a cheerful one 
— but then the Hindus, as well as the Maham- 
medans and Indians, look upon death as a happy 
translation to another existence, and the accompani- 
ments of gloom to which we are accustomed in 
Christian countries have no existence here. 

We departed, on Christmas Day in the morning, 
from Chitor and Ajmir again, returning by the way 
we came. Udaipur is at the end of the branch line 
from Ajmir which has not I believe been in exist- 
ence many years. 

On the way to the station I noticed some very 
primitive huts clustered in a group on a rising 
ground above the road. They almost exacdy 
resembled the huts of the early Britons and Gauls 
as they appear on Trajan's column, being circular 
in form, built of mud or sunbaked bricks and roofed 
with a sort of rude thatch laid over a bamboo 
trellis. In this land of wonders and contrasts truly, 
one sees everything both in customs and dwellings 
from the most primitive to the most elaborate and 
luxurious, from the most ancient to the most 
modern forms of life. It is sad to note, however, 
that at least as far as the outward aspects of life 
are concerned, all that Western contact seems to 
have done for the people of India is to intro- 
duce corrugated iron, Manchester cotton, and the 
kerosene can — with petrol and its smell ! 

At Udaipur station there was a great native 
crowd of every variety of type, wonderful in colour 
and costume. Many of the men carried sabres as 
well as walking-sticks which seem to be the marks 



CHITORGARH AND UDAIPUR 95 

of superior caste in Rajputana. There were, too, 
the usual crowd of poorer travellers with their 
extraordinary bundles and brown babies. A native 
woman stood on the platform with a huge sheaf of 
sugar-cane which she sold in pieces to the travellers, 
and, of course, there were the sweet stuff sellers, 
and the inevitable betel-nut. 

Reaching Chitorgarh in the late afternoon the 
old fort with its zigzag walled road looked quite 
familiar, and at the station our elephant was in 
waiting again. 

We could not get on to Ajmir until night, and 
so did not arrive there until about 5.30 in the 
morning. Coming from a plague-stricken district 
passengers were not allowed to leave the train 
until a medical inspection had taken place. An 
English doctor with a native attendant bearing a 
lantern came round and went througfh the farce 
of feeling everybody's pulse before anybody was 
allowed to leave the station. We only stopped, 
however, to get some tea and await a train for 
Jaipur, our next destination. 



CHAPTER VI 

JAIPUR 

IN our travels through India we met compara- 
tively few of our own countrymen and women. 
The EngHsh (or the British) have not as yet taken 
much to touring in the Empire of which such a 
proud boast is constantly made. The English in 
India are usually residents connected with civil or 
military posts. They go out to take up their official 
duties, and directly they get leave they rush "home" 
— England is always spoken of as " home," even 
by residents in India of long standing. It generally 
happens that the officials and their families are 
quartered at some particular station in a particular 
district, and may remain there all their time, so 
that the English resident in India generally does 
not see any other parts of the great peninsular, and 
is not acquainted with the country beyond his own 
district. A tourist, therefore, in a few months may 
have a more complete general or even particular 
acquaintance with India at large, as regards its 
great cities and famous monuments, than many a 
resident who has spent the best part of his life in 
one station, and who always takes his leave at 
"home." 

French tourists are occasionally met with, but 

Americans are the most numerous, and they are 
96 



JAIPUR 97 

met with everywhere. The early morning train 
we had taken from Ajmir to Jaipur was invaded 
by a party of no less than forty of our Transatlantic 
cousins, who overflowed it and filled our compart- 
ment with an incredible amount of hand baggage. 
They seemed to be, as far as one could make out, 
connected with some mission. They reminded me 
rather of a eatherino- in one of the cities of the 
United States at which I was present (Philadelphia, 
I think), where one of my American friends re- 
marked, " Now, all these you see here are types, 
but none of them are worth studying " ! 

The country traversed between Ajmir and Jaipur 
is mostly plain, and very desert-like in places, with 
distant mountain ranges beyond, not unlike Arizona 
in general character. Green crops under irrigation 
are, however, occasionally seen, and among them 
not unfrequently may be noticed a pair of large, 
grey-plumaged cranes, feeding in the young corn, 
which do not take to flight at the approach of the 
train. We reached Jaipur about noon and put up at 
Rustom's Hotel, a comparatively short drive from 
the station. The hotel stands in the middle of a 
large enclosure divided by a low wall from the high 
road. Tents are pitched along one side of the build- 
ing to afford extra sleeping accommodation, and a 
sort of bungalow annexe is prepared to take overflow 
guests. From pleasant rooms on the terrace we 
had a view of the Tiger Fort and the road with its 
constant procession of natives, ox-carts, and camels 
and horsemen trooping into the city about a mile 
off. A row of tall acacia trees screened the late 
afternoon sun, and barred-like fretwork the golden 



98 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



light of afterglow, and we often watched the pea- 
cocks flying up to roost among the branches, their 
beautiful forms silhouetted against the orange sky 
between the interstices of the leaves. 

The native proprietor, or manager, during the 
preliminary ceremony of taking our names, and in 




HOTEL ACCOMMODATION (JAIPUr), "FOR YOUR EASE AND 
comfort" (or rather for the easing of YOUR RUPEES?) 

getting a form of application to the Resident filled 
up for permission to visit the Maharajah's palace 
and the palace at Amber, made polite speeches, 
expressing himself only anxious for "our ease and 
comfort " — of course without any thought of pros- 
pective rupees. Clusters of native huts built of 
mud with thatched roofs occur at frequent intervals 
around Jaipur outside the city walls ; from our 
terrace at the hotel we could see several. There 
was apparently a small village within a stone's- 



JAIPUR 99 

throw. One evening the strains of what sounded 
Hke a native chant or song in chorus were wafted to 
us from this village, and we heard that a native 
wedding was going on there ; but the illusion was 
somewhat destroyed when we learned that the 
supposed native music proceeded from the mouth 
of a gramophone ! It is said that special ones are 
now prepared for the Indian market with popular 
native sono;s and music — another boon from the 
West. 

Jaipur is a city within high crenellated walls, 
built of rubble and plastered with cement. The 
same form of palisade-like battlement crested the 
walls here as at Chitorgarh, and is the common 
form in Mogul defensive buildings. Among the 
native huts which cluster outside the walls, I 
noticed some of wicker ; many of the huts, too, 
had wicker screens — a sort of lattice-work made of 
bamboo — covering the otherwise open fronts. 

Jaipur is known as the rose-coloured city. The 
Maharajah must be very fond of pink, in fact 
he may be said to have "painted the town red." 
The whole of the main fronts of the houses facing 
the streets are distempered in a kind of darkish 
rose pink — really red — the rosy hue being largely 
due to the luminous atmosphere in the full sunlight, 
and it becomes still rosier in the flush of evening. 
It is dark enough at anyrate to show a decoration 
of lines of floral devices and patterns painted in 
white upon the red walls. The whole scheme, no 
doubt, was suggested by the red sandstone build- 
ings inlaid with white marble which are the glory 
of Delhi and Agra. It is not a sort of imitation 

LOFC 



loo INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

calculated to deceive any one, however, but clearly 
a scheme of painted decoration emulating the effect of 
the solid materials mentioned. The city has, owing 
to this treatment, a very distinctive scenic aspect of 
its own, and is very striking", the brilliant and varied 
pattern of vivid colour in the costume of the 
natives in the bazaars, with this roseate background, 
producing quite a unique effect. One has, however, 
after a time an impression of unreality and unsub- 
stantiality, as of stage scenery which will presently 
be shifted. The Maharajah of Jaipur has the 
reputation of being very advanced and modern in 
his ideas. He has at anyrate set up gasworks in 
his city, which also possesses a large public garden 
laid out in the European manner, and is both horti- 
cultural and zoological, and contains a museum and 
a bronze statue of Lord Mayo. 

It seems rather a mistake, in a climate like that 
of India, to lay out grounds with broad serpentine 
paths and drives unshaded by trees, and vast lawns 
which can only be kept up with a pretence of 
<rreenness by constant and laborious watering. It 
is another of the mistaken foreign importations. 
The Eastern type of garden, on the other hand, is 
quite appropriate and adapted to the necessities of 
the climate. Its characteristics are narrow, straight 
paths between closely planted groves of trees, 
acacias, plantains, palms, and fruit trees, and varied 
with tanks and fountains, and cool marble pavilions, 
the whole enclosed in a protecting wall like an 
earthly paradise. 

It does not cheer the English traveller in the. 
East — at least I never heard that it did — to see a 



JAIPUR loi 

low wall surmounted by a cast-iron railing and 
common-place but pretentious gates, enclosing a 
joyless " public garden " of a British vestry type. 

The proprietors of the art depots in the bazaars 
of Jaipur are very enterprising, and resort to all 
kinds of allurements to induce the traveller to enter 
and purchase. To begin with, the tourist in his 
carriage is peppered with a perfect hail of white 
business cards flung at him by active touts, who are 
always on the alert for the passing stranger in the 
bazaars, who receives such seductive invitations as 
" See my shop ? " — " Very nice things " — " Don't 
want you to buy — only to look ! " 

We visited a large art-dealer's store. It was 
prettily arranged around a small covered court, 
lighted from the top. An arcade divided a series of 
rooms along each side, both on the ground and on 
a second floor. This court was richly carpeted and 
furnished with seats, coffee tables, and divans. 
One device of the proprietor or manager was to 
invite prospective customers to witness a dance of 
nautch girls in this court, presumably to conduce 
to a favourable mood for extensive purchases. 

At this place was a great display of Jaipur 
enamels, applied in a variety of ways from small 
jewellery to large, chased, brass dishes and trays. 
I saw a large dish prepared by the native craftsman 
(who was sitting at work at the entrance) for champ- 
leve enamel, very deftly chased, though the modern 
reproductions of the traditional Indian patterns 
strike one as rather mechanical. The skill of the 
craftsman is there, but the feeling and initiative of 
the artist is too often wanting. 



I02 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Rajput arms and armour hung on the white walls 
of the court, and there was an immense stock of all 
sorts of metal-work and jewellery, mostly modern, 
and numbers of small portable articles in brass, 
evidently meant for the eye and the pocket of the 
tourist ; amongst these were quantities of small 
pierced brass boxes in the form of cushions. I saw 
some interesting old Indian miniature pictures from 
MSS. — one of a rajah shooting a bow : he was 
standing upon a globe which rested on the back of 
an ox, which again stood upon the back of a fish. 

There were some suits of chain mail of extra- 
ordinary fineness, and wonderful engraved blades 
of many kinds. Besides the well-known Jaipur 
enamelled jewellery there was a quantity of precious 
stones — garnets, amethysts, sardonyx, onyx, and jade. 
Another speciality of Jaipur work are the charming 
spherical rolling lamps. These are spheres of 
brass chased and pierced all over with floral pattern, 
and made to open. Inside, by a very ingenious bit 
of mechanism, a small lamp is so suspended that it 
always maintains a horizontal position, and though 
the sphere may be rolled along the ground it never 
upsets the lamp within. They are used in the 
temples at festival times. These lamps are made 
at the Art School at Jaipur, where many native 
handicrafts are practised. 

Continuing our drive about the city we were 
introduced to the Maharajah's state elephant. He 
was a fine beast, and occupied a low walled court, 
all to himself and his keeper. His forehead, trunk, 
and ears were decorated with an elaborate painted . 
arabesque — a pattern in which vermilion, yellow, 



JAIPUR 103 

and turquoise predominated. His enormous tusks 
had had their points truncated, and these were 
tipped and bound with moulded bands of brass. 
The animal was tethered by one of his hind feet 
to a post, and stood in the shade of the high 
palace wall, tranquilly munching stalks of some 
kind of corn. I reproduce the sketch I made 
at the time of the elephant and the old man, 
his keeper. 

After tiffin we visited the palace. One could 
not say much for the taste of some of the decora- 
tions. We were shown several large durbar halls 
with open colonnades, which, however, were closed 
by hangings, which ourguide — a tall, grey-whiskered 
Rajput — lifted up to show the interiors. The 
vaulted ceilings were painted with patterns on 
rather a large scale and in crude reds and blues, 
rather open and spread out over the white plaster, 
and somewhat coarse in form. We were then led 
through the gardens, which were laid out with long 
tanks with flagged walks each side, lined with gas 
lamps, but there was no water in the tanks. 
Farther on we passed through a gateway at the top 
of a flight of steps to the alligator tank. Here a 
native attendant having tied a piece of meat to the 
end of a string, another set up a curious weird call, 
while yet another ran on to the shore of the lake 
or tank, and did his best to wake up one or two 
very torpid alligators which lay in the sunshine by 
seizing hold of their tails and making them take to 
the water. Finally, after much persuasion, two 
alligators were induced to come up for the food. 
One of these — an old one with no teeth (none of 



I04 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

them have tongues) — opened its horrid white mouth 
and snapped at the piece of meat which the man 
dangled at the end of the string. Meanwhile big- 
yellow turtles swam up to join in the game, at 
which they were much quicker than the alligators. 
Large brown kites, too, seeing what was going on, 
hovered about expectantly, and dexterously caught 
fragments thrown to them in mid air. The 
ubiquitous crow was there also, ready for any 
unconsidered trifles. 

The life of the bazaars at Jaipur is singularly 
varied and interesting. The streets are unusually 
wide as native streets go in India. They find room 
to shake out long strips of newly dyed cotton to 
dry — a man holding the cloth at each end 
and waving it wildly about to dry, so that great 
plashes of yellow or orange and pink are apt to 
illuminate the streets here and there, as this process 
is a frequent incident. The brightest red, yellow, 
green, and blue and pink are also seen in the 
costumes or rather draperies of the people — the 
Hindu women in their graceful saris, generally in 
different shades of red ; the Mohammedan women 
veiling their heads and shoulders in some vivid- 
coloured muslin — so that one had a general im- 
pression of people walking about attired in rain- 
bows. Quaint, two-wheeled vehicles were numerous, 
often elaborately painted and decorated, called 
recklas, having awnings over them, and were driven 
by a superior caste of natives — possibly they might 
be a sort of equivalent for the gig of respectability 
which Carlyle writes of. Then there were the 
heavier ox-carts of the peasant, some of them with 



JAIPUR 105 

a domed cover draped in red within which hidden 
from view sat the women and children. Another 
kind of cart was built of bamboo, a curious lattice 
of the same forming the pole and yoke for a pair of 
oxen. 

Shaving, massage, cleaning teeth, washing, and 
all the necessary operations, which in the west are 
generally performed in private, are in Indian native 
quarters carried on in the open. The natives do 
not seem to know what privacy is or to feel the 
need of it. The little naked brown babies every- 
where playing freely about are delightful. 

Great flocks of pigeons (blue rocks) are always 
flying about or swooping down to be fed with grain 
in the open spaces by women ; but they are driven 
away from the heaps of grain for sale in the 
bazaars. 

The women carry everything upon their heads,, 
and seem to do most of the porterage — bearing 
endless baskets of brown fuel made in rough flat 
cakes, bundles of wood, straw, sugar-cane, green 
stuff, bedding, and water jars. In Rajputana the 
women wear a rather full skirt under the sari, in 
many pleats rather after the style of an Albanian 
fustanelle. Masses of bracelets, some times 
completely covering their brown arms, are worn, 
either of coloured glass, or lacquered metal, or 
silver, and silver anklets as a rule with little 
bells attached. 

Armed horsemen are frequently seen riding in 
from or out into the country. Elephants, camels, 
and flocks of goats vary the street scenes, 
and residents' carriages with outriders ; camels 



io6 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

are also sometimes used to draw vehicles, driven 
in pairs. 

Musicians, with the peculiar long handled Indian 
guitar, jugglers, conjurers, snake charmers, vendors 




'-^i. 



TO AMBER ON AN ELEPHANT 



of stuffs and embroideries, and photograph sellers 
haunt the open arcades of the hotels and use every 
device to attract the attention of travellers. 

A visit to the deserted city of Amber and its 
palace is one of the principal excursions outside. 
Jaipur. It is best to start early in the morning, as 



JAIPUR 107 

there is a four to six miles drive by carriage to reach 
the place whence the ascent to Amber on elephants' 
backs is made. The road thither takes the visitor 
through a section of the city of Jaipur, and passes 
out on the other side into a road skirted with trees 
and gardens, from amidst which rise the domes of 
the pavilions of wealthy Rajputs. The Alligator 
lake is again passed, and some distance beyond this 
the foot of the hill is reached, when the traveller is 
expected to leave his carriage and mount one of 
the elephants in waiting there to take him up to 
Amber — another two miles. 

It is necessary to be furnished with a formal 
permission from the Resident to visit Amber. 
Formerly elephants were placed at the disposal of 
visitors by the Maharajah, but since tourists became 
numerous elephants must be hired by them. They 
are by no means richly caparisoned elephants. 
The housings leave much to be desired, and the 
seats are much out of repair, and one is lucky to 
find the foot-board slung at a usable level and 
fairly horizontal, and if the protecting rail of the 
seat does not slip out. 

For those who are willing to sacrifice processional 
dignity and spectacular effect, however, as well as 
a slow shaking, it is quite possible to walk — for the 
able bodied, and before the sun is high. 

After a steepish hill at first the road descends 
again, and passing along the border of a small lake, 
turns round at its head and again ascends to the 
palace on a considerable height, of which a distant 
view is obtained, as one approaches it, from the 
road. It is a striking pile of Mohammedan archi- 



io8 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

tecture. Three great gateways are passed on the 
steep approach up the rocky sides of the hill, and the 
road is protected by a wall, as at Chitorgarh. 
Finally the great gateway leading into the courtyard 
of the palace is reached, and we dismount from the 
elephant and are surrounded by a number of 
hangers-on, one of which comes forward to act 
as guide over the palace, which showed traces of 
considerable restoration. The great doors of solid 
brass were exceedingly fine (both here and at the 
Maharajah's palace in Jaipur — really the best things 
there). There were also doors beautifully inlaid 
with ivory and ebony to some of the zenana rooms, 
all the doors being interesting for their woods and 
joinery. There were some delicate pierced marble 
screens over the gateway of the inner court which 
had a most lovely effect seen against the sky. The 
rooms were very elaborately decorated with a sort 
of veneer of small pieces of looking-glass arranged 
in arabesque, and united by cloisonne of gesso form- 
ing the lines of divisions of the pattern, similar to that 
we had seen at Udaipur. This decoration, carried 
all over a vaulted ceiling, in the sunlight reflected 
from the floor, glittered like beaten silver. On the 
lower halls were delicate marble panels of floral 
desig^ns in relief. 

The palace as a whole did not strike us as so 
beautiful as that at Udaipur, although vastly more 
so than the Maharajah's at Jaipur. 

From the roof and terraces we looked down on 
gardens and pavilions and on the lake below, then 
partially dry, and wondered how this vast palace 
with all its luxurious decoration came to be deserted. 



JAIPUR 



109 



A temple at the main entrance, however, is still 
maintained for worship, which is that of Kali — one 
of the aspects or secondary characters of Parvati, 
the wife of Siva — a savage, blood-thirsty goddess 







r^^^^ 



SHOPPING IN JAIPUR 



only propitiated by animal sacrifices. A goat or a 
kid is still sacrificed daily here. It was pathetic 
enough to see the innocent, unconscious intended 
victim — a poor little kid tied at the corner of the 
platform of the temple by a little heap of sand. Mr 
W. S. Caine gives a graphic account of how the 
head of the victim is instantaneously cut off by the 



no INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

officiating priest, an act he witnessed, but we felt 
no desire to see this execution. 

On our way back I saw a curious instance of 
the boldness of a kite and the unerring way in 
which they swoop at their prey. A native was 
walking down the hill in front of us carrying a piece 
of bread in his hand, from which he ate, swinging it 
at his side between whiles. A kite hovering above 
made a sudden swoop at the bread, which he struck 
with his beak, scattering the crumbs, though he 
did not succeed in knocking it quite out of the 
man's hand. 

Driving in the evening through the bazaars at 
Jaipur we stopped the carriage to purchase some 
native cottons and muslins, and were immediately 
surrounded by a noisy, struggling crowd of rival 
traders who filled the carriage with their gay 
coloured stuffs, and literally covered us up with 
them. Our bearer negotiated the bargains, and in 
the end we carried off some characteristic textile 
souvenirs. On the way back to our hotel we 
stopped to see the Maharajah's horses, passing 
through a gateway into a large exercise ground, 
down the sides of which ran a long open shed, 
with horses tethered in a line, each horse being 
secured by long ropes from each hind fetlock 
fastened to pegs on iron rings fixed in the ground, 
which sloped down to the open court. In addition 
to these each horse was tied by a halter, with a rope 
each side to rings in the manger, and all, of course, 
had cloths on. There were no partitions be- 
tween the animals, which I suppose was the reason 
of their being so carefully secured. There were 



JAIPUR 1 1 1 

some very fine animals among them, and the 
native grooms were very wiUing to show them 
off — for a httle backsheesh. There were white 
Arabs, Walers, EngHsh hunters, and a tiny Burmese 
pony. 



CHAPTER VII 

AGRA 

"^ "\7'E left Jaipur for Agra on the 29th of 
' ^ December, finding the usual excited crowd 
at the station. The train passed through a rather 
dry, plain country, though varied by crops under 
irrigation. We changed at a junction named 
Bandakni, the train we were in going on to Delhi. 
It was a refreshment station. Here a good tiffin was 
procurable. Going on about 4.30 in the afternoon, 
we entered a more fertile and interesting country, 
the crops being more abundant, and the wells also. 
There were some fine groves of trees, and distant 
ranges of hills to be seen. Curious mounds and 
tumbled boulders varied the plains here and there 
in places. Peacocks were plentiful, and they even 
occasionally strayed on to the railway metals at the 
stations. Antelopes were also to be seen, and once 
an animal resembling a wolf was seen in the jungle. 
A jungle, by the way, is not necessarily a slice of 
tropical forest, full of long grass, tangled creepers, 
and tigers, but may be any bit of uncultivated 
country. 

We reached Agra about 9 p.m. after a comfortable 
journey. We put up at the Metropole Hotel — a kind 
of extended bungalow, with a two-storied centre and ^ 
two long, low wings of rooms under the usual arcaded 



AGRA 113 

arrangement, with a garden in the middle. The 
rooms were spacious and lofty, but bare, cheerless 
and cold. The traveller of course must not 
expect any old - fashioned welcome or personal 
interest in his comfort or welfare in any country at 
any modern hostelry in these days. He writes or 
wires for his room, and he may be thankful if it is 
ready for him when he arrives. He must be 
content to be merely No. So-and-so, and may not 
even see the host or manager at all. There was, 
naturally, more or less of a rush on Agra about this 
time, as the preparations for the reception of the 
Amir of Afghanistan were far advanced, and dis- 
tinguished visitors were beginning to arrive. The 
English tourist who had not furnished himself with 
introductions in such a place was apparently re- 
garded as a mere worm by the superior military 
and official British circles. 

Driving to the fort next morning we were 
stopped by an English sentry, who produced a 
written card of Regulations forbidding the entrance 
of carriages, so we got out and walked through the 
Emperor Akbar's great Delhi gate (1566), which 
is on a fine scale, and passed on to the Pearl 
Mosque, the Moti Musjid, built by Shah Jehan in 
1654 — the private chapel of the court of the Mogul 
Emperors — a beautiful white marble building in a 
fair court. An Arabic inscription records when it 
was built and why. 

We passed on to the great square of the fort 
which was busily preparing for the reception of 
the Amir, who was expected to arrive on the 9th 
of January. They were actually building out an 

H 



114 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

extra portico in solid masonry adding it on to the 
existing Durbas Hall (Diwan-i-Khas), which was so 
blocked with workmen and materials it was not 
possible to see much inside, and our bearer, who 
was by way of acting as guide when he could, was 
roughly turned back by an English official. We 
made the round of the great Akbar's Fort, which 
is certainly on a noble scale, and returning to the 
Delhi gate by ugly and mean British barrack 
buildings, which have been put up within its massive 
walls, we could not but be struck with the contrast 
between the work of one Empire and that of 
another. Over Akbar's great gate, however, 
floated our Union Flag. 

Our next expedition was to the renowned 
Taj Mahal, the beautiful marble tomb erected 
by Shah Jehan in memory of his favourite wife, 
and which was to be his own monument also. 
The way thither lies through the cantonments and 
the government gardens. We passed through 
great encampments, then in a state of busy prepara- 
tion. On the road was being erected a large 
triumphal arch in the Moslem style, upon which 
native workmen were engaged painting and 
decorating. Native police in khaki and red 
turbans lined the route at intervals, and saluted 
as we drove past. The Viceroy's camp was 
beautifully laid out and arranged with turf, walks, 
and flowers. We saw a procession of native women 
carrying palms and plants in pots on their heads, 
from ox-carts unloading them, for the camp. 
Camping in India, indeed, seems to be a fine ar-t, 
and is carried out in every detail with the utmost 



AGRA 



115 



completeness. In the government gardens the 
ideas of the English landscape gardener were in 
evidence. They were laid out with serpentine 




^b 



AGGRAVATING AGRA 



walks and drives in the modern public parks style, 
the large shadeless stretches of would-be turf 
struggling to show a little green under repeated 
waterings, with groups of young trees here and 
there. A big statue of Queen Victoria was placed 
conspicuously on the high ground in the centre of 



ii6 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

one of these desert-like lawns. A little beyond we 
came to the magnificent gate of the Taj, a noble 
structure of red sandstone and white marble, 
approached by steps. Passing through its deep 
shadow under the great arch the wonderful tomb 
in all its pearly whiteness, with its graceful dome 
and slender minarets, rising sparkling in the full 
sunlight above a green bower of trees against the 
deep blue of the sky, and reflected in the still water 
of the long tank, breaks upon the sight like a 
fairy vision. The tank with terraced walks, 
flagged with stone, extends from the steps of the 
entrance gateway to the front of the Taj itself, 
its long line only broken by a raised marble terrace 
with seats about half way. Rows of slender 
cypresses enforce the long perspective which leads 
the eye up to the shrine. The Moslems certainly 
felt the importance of spacing and proportion, and 
the art of leading the eye and preparing the mind 
for the appreciation of beautiful art and archi- 
tecture by careful planning of the setting and 
surroundings of their great temples and tombs. 
Space is as important an element in their design 
as the exquisite handicraft which produced their 
unrivalled detail. The Taj itself is on a raised 
platform of stone, and is flanked on each side by 
two noble mosques of red sandstone splendidly 
inlaid with white marble. It was the rich 
decorative effect of such materials no doubt which 
suggested to the Maharajah of Jaipur the painting 
of his town red, which I refer to in a previous 
chapter, but the reality compared with the imitation 
is as wine to water. 




THE TAJ MAHAL, FROM THE GATEWAY 



AGRA 117 

The Taj first impresses one by its beautiful 
proportion, and the completeness of its ensemble. 
It is like a fair woman whose general carriage and 
aspect charms the eye before we are near enough 
to appreciate the full beauty of her face and 
form, or to note the exquisite taste of her delicate 
attire. 

As one approaches this wonderful shrine which, 
although so ornate, possesses a fine breadth in 
general effect, the beauty and finish of its 
decorative detail excites a new admiration. There 
are delicate designs of lilies and tulips and crown 
imperials cut in marble in low relief, forming the 
panelling of the lower walls. These are framed in 
small-scale, formal floral designs, inlaid with precious 
stones, such as jasper, coral, bloodstone, sardonyx, 
lapis-lazuli, onyx, turquoise, and other kinds done in 
a manner associated with Florentine work, and it is 
said Italian workmen were employed here. Then 
we have the crowning beauty of the pierced work 
in the marble screens which enclose the tombs, and 
break the brilliant light at the apertures under the 
dome. These are the jewellery and lace of this 
architectural personality. There is something of 
the fine lady about her — if one may use the personal 
pronoun, but one cannot forget the twenty thousand 
workmen whose twenty-two years' toil contributed 
to her splendour ; and it is recorded, too, that their 
work was done under conditions of semi-starvation, 
and at the price of many lives, over and above the 
four millions of money at which the cost is usually 
estimated. Well, it remains their monument as 
well as that of Shah Jehan and his wife Arjamand 



ii8 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Banu : 1648 is the date of the completion of the 
Taj. 

I was somewhat disappointed not to find the 
eastern garden described by Edwin Arnold, and 
which was seen here by Mr W. S, Caine — a bowery, 
romantic garden full of fruit trees — "orange and 
lemon, pomeloes, pomegranates, palms, flowering 
shrubs and trees, with marble fish-ponds and 
fountains, speaking of the East in every whisper 
of their leaves and plash of their waters." There 
is still a charming garden, but an Anglicised one, 
with open lawns, broken by masses of beautiful and 
varied but rather consciously and professionally 
arranged trees and shrubs and palms. The hand 
and taste of the modern gardener is a little 
too evident. It looks as if the original some- 
what wild and characteristic Eastern garden had 
been taken in hand by an expert from Kew, and 
it had been tamed, its wild locks cut off, and the 
remainder combed and brushed. 

There is an English country-seat or even 
surburban suggestion about it in parts. I can- 
not but think that it was a pity not to maintain 
the garden in its Eastern character, considering 
the monument it encloses. However, it would 
take even more professional treatment to 
prevent beautiful trees and flowers from being 
delightful. 

The garden is still a pleasant place to wander 
in, and interesting views of the white domes and 
minarets, rising above masses of foliage, can be had 
everywhere in it. Here, at the end of December,, 
one enjoyed the temperature, and the sunshine, 



AGRA 



119 



tempered by the shade of trees, of a normal June 
day in England. 

As regards the garden, I was told that when it 
was in its original state as a fruit garden a certain 
amount of revenue was realised by the sale of the 




THE MAINSTAY OF INDIA. AQUARIUS — THE WATER-BEARER 



produce. When Lord Curzon heard of this he 
considered it not fitting, and I understood that he 
was responsible for the alteration in the character 
of the garden, which requires the constant attention 
of the water-bearer with his goatskin. 

Agra possesses a fine mosque in the Jama Musjid, 
built by Shah Jehan in 1644. It is a building of 
red sandstone and white marble. The big dome 
is inlaid in zigzags of white marble and red sand- 



I20 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

stone alternately, the whole surface being covered 
in this way with striking effect. 

It is an interesting drive throuo^h the bazaars and 
over the bridge of boats across the river Jumna, and 
through a native village, to the mausoleum of Itmad- 
ud-Daulat. In this beautiful building, which is 
approached through a massive arched gateway of 
red sandstone and across a walled garden, one sees 
a prototype of the Taj Mahal. In this case there 
is a central dome and four minarets, only the cupola 
is lower and of a flatter curve, and the minarets are 
not detached from the body of the building which 
is much lower than the Taj. In the design and 
execution of its decorative detail, however, it 
surpasses the Taj in inventiveness, and variety 
and richness, both in pierced and carved work and 
lis pietra dura. The detail of the Taj, beautiful and 
finely finished as it is, has in comparison, perhaps, 
rather the look of having been done to order, 
whereas in buildings of earlier date like this one we 
seem to see the more spontaneous invention of the 
craftsman. The restoring hand of Lord Curzon, 
however, has touched this monument also, and a 
new marble balustrade around the flat roof has 
been added under his orders. There are lovely 
views from the minarets. 

We visited the Taj Mahal again by moonlight. 
It was the 30th of December and the moon was 
full, but it was chilly driving out after dinner and 
wraps were necessary. There was a light mist 
from the river which hung over the garden, and 
slightly veiled the lower part of the building as we 
approached it down one of the long paths chequered 



AGRA i2r 

by the shadows of the trees. The front was in 
shadow and looked mysterious in the mist, but the 
dome seemed made of pearl rounded in the full 
moonlight in splendid relief against the dark deep 
blue of the night powdered with brilliant stars, 
while the four minarets were like helmeted sentinels 
in shining armour, guarding the sacred shrine. 

The moonlight was bright enough for me tQ 
make a sketch by. I also made two coloured 
drawings of the Taj by daylight, one of which — 
" the Taj Mahal from the rose garden " was after- 
wards purchased by H.M. The Queen, and the 
other, from the gate, is reproduced here. Agra 
was full of British and native soldiers, and more 
were continually arriving. We passed trains of 
field artillery marching through the government 
gardens, and bell tents covered the ground like 
mushrooms. In many places earth banks had 
been cut in tiers for seats, and strings of small flags- 
fluttered across many of the streets, and there were 
also seats and stands of timber being erected. 
Agra could think of nothing but the Amir. 

The English and other churches are not admir- 
able examples of modern architecture, and never 
seem to look at home in India, There was a 
Roman Catholic Church here after the manner of an 
eighteenth century one, but any merit it might have 
had was obscured by its colour. It had been, so to 
speak, put into a grey uniform with buff facings. 
The English Church was treated in the same way. 
This must be military influence. My impression 
certainly was that civilians did not count for much 
at Agra. 



122 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

In the bazaars we found we were able to make 
purchases with rather less accompaniment of drama 
than at Jaipur. European goods were much in 
evidence, of the cheap and nasty sort as a rule, ugly 
socks and scarves and cottons, and tin ware. I saw 
a crowd of natives clustering round the trumpet 
mouth of a gramophone — an instrument which 
seems to have considerable charms for them. 

It was chilly enough in the early mornings and in 
the evenings at Agra, and our ground-floor rooms 
were none of the warmest, although, of course, the sun 
was very powerful in the middle of the day. The 
Hotel proprietors were looking forward to full 
houses and high prices during the Amir's visit, and 
enormous sums were mentioned as probable charges 
for rooms, but we had no intention of staying 
through the festivities. 

Our last excursion from Agra was to Sikandra — 
five miles away to the North West — where we 
drove to see the tomb of Akbar. The road was a 
dusty one, but through pleasant acacia avenues. 
We passed through several mud-built villages, and 
presently saw white minorets rising above a belt of 
trees in the distance. At one part of the road 
where the square tower of an English Mission 
Church was seen among trees we m ere reminded 
for a moment of a bit of Norfolk, but only for a 
moment. Soon we reached the great red-stone 
gateway which was on a splendid scale, and 
elaborately inlaid with marble, exceedingly fine in 
style, parts had been restored, and all the four 
white marble minarets were said to be new and 
placed there by Lord Curzon, not I presume without 



AGRA 123 

Sfood evidence of the former existence of such 
minarets, but such renewals cannot possess any- 
historic interest and are in doubtful taste. The 
gate was adorned with Togra and Arabic inscrip- 
tions, which, cut in sunk relief in white marble, 
formed a frame work enclosing panels of larger 
pattern in marble inlay. Pilasters of red sandstone 
on the front were in zigzag courses, alternately 
white and red, like the work on the dome of the 
Jama Musjid at Agra. 

From the gateway a long and broad flagged way, 
intersected by tanks, led us up to the tomb, across a 
wide park full of fine trees, tamarinds and mangoes 
chiefly. Arrived at the great tomb, the cupolas of 
which we had seen in front of us as we walked, we 
first entered a sort of hall or atrium with richly 
decorated roof and walls in coloured plaster, 
heightened with gold, and with an Arabic text in 
gold running round the frieze. There were 
beautiful designs of trees and vines in panels. Parts 
had been picked out in new gold and colour, at 
somebody's expense, to bring out the pattern, but 
the new work looked hard and mechanical though 
on good lines, and the new gold was staring ; the 
effect of this partial restoration being of course 
patchy. Still, if such restorations are allowable 
at all, it is better that they should be frank and 
make no pretence at being really a part of the 
original work. It would, however4in this case have 
been far better to have left it alone, as the old gold 
and colour still remaininsf on the walls and vault 
was rich and deep in tone. 

From this hall we entered a small corridor, two 



124 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

native attendants going before us with lanterns to 
guide our steps. This passage led into a vast dark 
domed chamber, in the midst of which was the 
plain marble tomb of the great Akbar. It was im- 
pressive in its simplicity, without any inscription or 
ornament, the usual narrow parallelogram with a 
moulded base. One of the men uttered a deep 
prolonged note like the exclamation Ah ! but sus- 
tained and dwelling on the A. This was answered 
by a profound and long-continued echo or reverber- 
ation, dying gradually away, caused I suppose by 
the height and shape of the dome. One might 
imagine it was the voice of the dead Emperor. 
After seeing three more tombs, one of which was 
richly and delicately carved (a lady's), we ascended 
to the terraced roof, and from there to a second 
arcaded terrace, from which still a third was reached 
up steps of ever increasing height in the treads, 
and finally to a top story, emerging upon a beautiful 
spacious arcaded court of white marble, but with 
warm tints in it which made it very much the tone 
of ivory. There were delicate, pierced, marble 
screens on each side, through which the evening 
sun sparkled like gold. In the centre of the court 
on a raised dais was the second tomb of Akbar, 
accordine to the usual Mohammedan custom of 
placing an upper tombstone to indicate the position 
of the actual tomb in the vault below. This tomb 
was most elaborately and delicately carved in white 
marble, with beautifully designed floral patterns 
and Arabic texts and borders of scroll work, which 
were like reproductions in marble relief of the 
designs in the best type of Persian carpets. The 



AGRA 125 

aged native custodians told us that the famous koh- 
i-noor diamond was once here on Akbar's tomb. 
It might be interesting to trace its history to its 
present position. 

The foHated cresting of the parapet of this 
marble court was also delicately carved. Altogether 
the building was one of the finest things of its type 
we had yet seen in India. The blend of Hindu 
construction with Mogul work in the corbelled 
supports of the minarets was noticeable. These 
corbels were trebled at the angles, and like most 
of the building were of red sandstone. 

There was a fine view of the country from this 
highest story of the tomb, and we could even see the 
white dome of the Taj Mahal five or six miles 
away. The drive from Agra took about an hour, and 
the sun had set before we returned. 

This being New Year's day Moonsawmy our 
bearer smilingly came up with an offering — a plum 
cake with a pink sugared top and " A Happy New 
Year " on it, as if it had come out of an English 
confectioner's — and this, too, was accompanied by a 
garland of yellow and white flowers after the native 
manner — one for each of us. He said this was 
customary, and with his good wishes he managed 
to convey a gentle hint that his *' jentilmens " 
usually made him a little present in return. This 
rather rubbed a little of the sugar off, but, of course, 
we did not forget him. He was not a bad servant 
on the whole, though rather too old and cunning a 
bird in some ways. He had rather extravagant 
ideas in ordering carriages, which we afterwards 
discovered were not totally unconnected with 



126 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

certain commissions extracted from the carriage 
proprietors. No doubt, however, native bearers 
regard the European tourist as fair game — it is not 
unheard of in Europe — and they, Hke other classes 
after their manner, lose no opportunity of making 
the most of the chances of their rather uncertain 
profession. 



CHAPTER VIII 

GWALIOR 

WE left Agra for Gwalior on the 2nd of 
January. Departing from Agra Road 
about 1 1 in the morning we arrived at GwaHor 
between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon. We 
hoped to meet an Indian friend here, who was a 
doctor in the suite of the Maharajah, and whom we 
had known in London when he was studying for 
his degree. He was, however, absent at Calcutta, 
so we had to shift for ourselves. There was, how- 
ever, an excellent guest-housebuilt by the Maharajah 
for the use of visitors to Gwalior, not far from the 
station, where we found comfortable quarters, very 
superior to most of the hotels we had had experi- 
ence of. The buildino^ itself was a charminp' 
pavilion in the Mogul style, with domes, arcades, 
and pierced stone work balconies, and elaborately 
carved doorways, the material of which it was built 
being a sort of yellow sandstone. We were allotted 
a spacious room opening on to a pleasant terrace 
and connected with balconies which extended 
entirely around the house, and from here we could 
see the famous Rock of Gwalior with its fort and 
Temples and the old palace of Man Mandir con- 
spicuous at its further end. There was a large 
central hall or living room, and in this was a 



128 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

iDlazing fire which shed its cheery Hght and welcome 
warmth. There was a good piano and EngHsh 
furniture. There was a sort of clerestory high in 
the lofty wall, but no direct light, so that in the 
daytime this room was in comparative gloom, by 
no means ungrateful after the glare of the sun. 
The dining room was fully lighted and opened on 
to a portico. In front of the building was a garden 
with a rather burnt up piece of lawn encircled by a 
carriage drive. 

We found a singular silent and reserved company 
of Anglo-Indians at dinner — a lady and three 
gentleman — only one of the latter manifesting the 
slightest interest in us. No one appeared at 
breakfast the following morning but an English 
governess and a child she was in charge of 

We started in a carriage to drive to the fort, 
stopping on the way to see the tomb of Mohammed 
Ghaus, the dome of which is visible from the guest- 
house. It is a noble tomb of yellow sandstone, 
with fine screen-work. It dates from the early 
part of Akbar's reign. We crossed a river by a 
bridge and entered a decayed-looking native town, 
passing up a straggling street of low houses to the 
first gate of the fortress. There we might have 
hired an elephant to take us up the steep road to the 
fort, but the elephant had been already bespoke, by 
a party of British officers. A palanquin (or 
jhampan) was produced, however, in which my 
wife seated herself and was carried up the hill by 
four bearers, four more accompanying them as 
relays. As for me I preferred to walk up, and our 
Moonsawmy went with us. We passed through 



GWALIOR 



129 



several gateways. The Hindu carvings of one 
called the Ganesha Gate had been defaced by the 




TO GWALIOR FORT BY PALANQUIN 



Mohammedans. Soon the towers of the old palace 
of Man Mandir rose in view near the summit, each 
crowned with a circular cupola. It is a striking 



I30 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

building of remarkable character in reddish-yellow 
sandstone, faced in parts by turquoise blue and 
yellow tiles, courses of these tiles running across 
the facade. The angle tower and some of the tile- 
work at the top had been restored. There was a 
frieze of geese in yellow on a turquoise-blue ground, 
the birds in profile, each showing an expanded wing 
and set close togfether. The desiq-n resembled the 
carved figures of birds often seen on the Jain temples. 
The architecture here being Hindu, was much more 
massive than the Mogul work hitherto seen, and 
showed much variety and invention in the carved 
corbels and brackets in the interior. I made a note 
of a peacock bracket in which the tail is effectively 
treated, the bird being considerably formalised in 
adapting it to its architectural purpose. There was 
another of a fantastic elephant. Elephant heads 
with their uplifted trunks, by the way, were carved 
as brackets to support the balconies at the Guest 
House, where also I noted that the detail of some 
of the carved work of the door heads at the old 
palace had been reproduced. The doorways were 
rather low^ and small, and the whole building had 
more the character of a castle than a palace. On 
the flat table land on the summit of the rock there 
were several Jain temples, masses of carving within 
and without. The Sas Bahu is the principal Jain 
temple, and there is also a Hindu temple on the 
rock — near the farther end from Man Mandir — the 
Teli-ka Mandir. This stands in a graveyard, 
full of carved fragments and upright stones. The 
elephant bearing the party of British officers passed, 
us as we were exploring the temples. There are 



GWALIOR 131 

some ugly barracks, which are very much out of 
keeping with the historic architecture of the Rock. 
The old fort has stood many a siege. Caine calls 
it "the cockpit of Central India," and "it has 
been stormed or starved into submission a dozen 
times at least." It seems to have been originally 
fortified in ']']2i a.d., and at various periods since 
to have alternately fallen into the hands of Hindu or 
Mussulman, as now one and now the other prevailed. 
Akbar the Great took it in 1556, and we find the East 
India Company in possession in 1780, who took it 
from Sindhia and gave it to the Rana of Gohad. 
Then Sindhia retook it, and so it has remained with 
the Sindhias (to which family the present Maharajah 
belongs) practically ever since. The Rock has always 
been well supplied with water and has many tanks. 
We had a commanding prospect of the country, 
stretching in a vast plain for miles around. We could 
see the Maharajah's palace amidst its parks and 
gardens — a white buildingf- among- the ereen foliaofe, 
and nearer the foot of the Rock the new town of 
Gwalior, called Lashkar. We descended on the 
farther (northern) side of the rock by a winding 
road, and from here v/e saw some huge carved 
figures cut in the face of the sandstone cliffs in bold 
relief. Most of these are said to represent Adinath, 
the first Jain pontiff, but there is a seated figure of 
Nemnath, the twenty-second pontiff. Each bear 
their symbols, that of the first being a bull and of 
the second a shell. There are life-size as well as 
small figures cut on the lower parts of the cliff. 
The effect of these strange carvings is very weird. 
They have an impersonal and unrelated look, and 



132 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

give one the impression of being more ancient than 
they really are ; but they only date from a.d. 1441 
to 1474. 

We found our carriao-e waitino- for us at the foot 
of the hill, havino- driven round the Rock from the 
old town, and we got back to the Guest House 
about noon. 

In the late afternoon we drove to the Maharajah's 
palace, and presenting our cards, were shown over 
the rooms by a very polite English officer. The 
building is in a sort of late Italian Renaissance style, 
all white outside, with a great display of pilasters 
and columned porticoes. We entered a vast durbar 
hall in white and gold, with modern French-looking 
furniture with curly legs upholstered in green. 
There were many photographs of recent English 
Governor-Generals on the walls, as well as indifferent 
full-length, life-sized portraits in oil of the late 
Maharajah. The best of these was said to have 
been painted by one Scott — a landscape painter (!). 
In one of the smaller rooms there was an Eno-lish 
water-colour drawing of Sussex Downs by A. F. 
Grace (whom I remember at Heatherly's in 
student days), and several photographic official 
groups of the usual type, in which the Maharajah 
is seated by the Prince of Wales, surrounded 
by rows of officials and notabilities, all with 
" eyes front." We wrote our names in the 
visitors' book, and then drove through the grounds, 
which are very extensive. In one part lions are 
kept — apparently in a most insecure way, as they 
not unfrequently escape and ravage the country 
round. In fact, this had quite recently happened, 



GWALIOR 133 

and natives had been killed by them. A very 
taciturn gentleman at the Guest House had been 
pointed out to us by the more genial of our fellow- 
countrymen there as the official who had been sent 
by the Maharajah to fetch the wandering lions back, 
and he had been over a distance of about three 
hundred miles before he succeeded in "rounding 
them up." He did not tell us, however, how it was 
done, though he had a look as of one who " could a 
tale unfold " — not to speak of a lion's tail ! When 
we saw the place where these lions were kept we were 
not surprised that they should have been able to 
escape if they had a mind to. We looked down on 
them as they were gnawing some bones. They 
were loose in a sort of open court, overgrown with 
grass, and enclosed within four plastered walls 
which any cat could have scaled, no palisading 
or iron railing at the top. There were five lions 
and one lioness visible. The remains of their 
repast of meat was pounced on by kites and 
crows with much clamour. 

We next saw the Maharajah's elephants, and 
passed down a long line of them, chained by the 
fore-legs, down one side of an open courtyard, 
all eating what looked like the stalks of Indian 
corn. There were about thirty elephants here. 
One of them was handsomely painted on the forehead 
in a similar way to the state elephant we saw at 
Jaipur, but none of them had quite such big tusks. 
Returning through the gardens, we passed the older 
palace ; also a white building, but in the Mogul style, 
with many domes and minarets, and facing a large 
tank with marble steps. 



134 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Our party at the Guest House was increased at 
dinner by two very pleasant American ladies, who, 
owing to their powers of conversation, caused the 
very reserved Anglo-Indians to melt a litde and show 
some signs of human interest, especially when one 
of the ladies related her thrilling experiences during 
the San Francisco earthquake. 

The next morning we visited the newer city of 
Gwalior, which we had seen from the fort. The 
streets were fairly wide, and some had varied and 
picturesque fronts in plaster-work. We were 
driven to the gate of a big and rather new Hindu 
temple, spoiled by the insertion of crude pieces of 
coloured glass, of the commonest European make, 
in the fan-lights of the doors on each side. A 
sacred bull of black marble and a snake fetish were 
the most interesting thines there. 

In the same court was an older temple raised 
on a flight of steps. To approach this, one's shoes 
had to be taken off, and from the door only a peep 
was allowed into the dark interior, which, as far as 
I could see was painted all over with figures of 
deities and emblems in a barbaric way in coarse 
and crude colours. The thing to look at, it appeared, 
was a portrait of the late Maharajah in his jewels, 
on what we should call the high altar, which was 
suddenly illuminated by artificial light by one of 
the native attendants. 

Zebu cows were wandering freely about in the 
court of the temple, and here for a wonder no fees 
were taken. 

We went into the new market, which had been 
opened by the Prince of Wales on his visit the 




L ^^ 

f"'' ill ^ 



' V 



*^~^*. 



n f 




>! 



«»¥*■ 



IN THE BAZAAR, GVVALIOR 



GWALIOR 135 

previous year. It was not, however, very busy, 
and many of the stalls were empty. It seemed of 
doubtful advantage to the natives, who preferred to 
do business in the bazaars. There appeared to be 
a good supply of fresh vegetables, but very few 
buyers. The most interesting stalls were those of 
the bead sellers. There were beads of every 
variety of colour and size. The stalls were about 
the height of ordinary shop-counters, and on these 
platforms, which extended without divisions along 
the centre and sides of the market hall, the native 
traders squatted with their wares in front of them, 
women as well as men. Some of them were en- 
gaged in stringing the beads, and one man was 
plaiting a cord, the strands of which were fixed to a 
hook fixed on an upright stick supported on a 
stand. He used his toes like finorers to hold out 
and divide the strands as he worked. With the 
assistance of our bearer we made some pur- 
chases, and again later in the bazaar, when, as the 
carriage was stopped, I made a sketch of the scene 
in front of us, but under difficulties, as we were 
immediately surrounded on all sides by an eager 
concourse of swarthy, interested spectators, who 
refused to budge in spite of the rather mild remon- 
strances or commands of a native policeman, who, 
I imagine, used the Hindu equivalent for " Pass 
along" or " Move on," but they didn't. Under this 
"crowd of witnesses" I endeavoured to complete 
my sketch, and then we moved on. 

Extending our drive on the Morar Road, we 
passed the camp of the Maharajah's soldiers in 
waiting for the Amir's coming, as after the Agra 



136 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

reception was over he was to pay a visit to the 
palace at Gwahor for tiger-shooting. We enjoyed 
a quiet Hfe at Gwahor, and I was able to make 
several drawings unhindered by too curious crowds. 
The Guest House was one of the quietest places 
imaginable, although visitors came and went and 
even motor-cars were seen. There was something 
almost mysterious in the way guests would appear 
and disappear — at table one day and vanished the 
next ; covers would be laid too for guests who 
never appeared. 

Tents which were pitched on the ground outside 
the Guest House for other unseen visitors would 
be clean gone as we looked out in the morning. 
Everything seemed so transitory ; even a native 
boy, when I wanted to make a drawing of him, 
was nowhere to be found, and I had to make the 
best of it with an unwilling and quite inferior sub- 
stitute, who had no idea of keeping still, and even 
ended the seance by squatting on the ground with 
his back to one ! 

It struck me that the natives do not like being 
drawn or painted, as a rule, to judge by the various 
attempts one made to secure models. The one 
wanted always disappeared when the time came, 
and another, but not a better and without the same 
characteristics, offered. 

The little palm squirrels were very numerous 
here, and would scamper about the terraces and 
balconies of the Guest House, and even chase each 
other into our rooms, or come up for the crumbs 
we scattered, sitting up on their haunches to nibble 
at them, held in their fore-paws in true squirrel 



GWALIOR 



"^^^7 



fashion. Equally familiar were the sparrows which 
flew in and out, unmolested and fearless, even 
perching sometimes on the breakfast table. The 
crows too would congregate on the balcony rails if 




CALLERS AT THE GUEST HOUSE, GWALIOR 

any feeding was going on, frequently joining us at 
afternoon tea, at a respectful distance, though 
within short range of the scattered crumbs. 

We witnessed several very lovely sunsets over 
the Rock of Gwalior, a type of frequent occurrence 
being an arrangement of long, low stratus clouds, 
brilliantly illuminated on their under edges as 
the sun sank below the horizon, the light deep- 



138 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

ening from orange into crimson. Another type 
consisted of golden fleeces of high cirrus clouds, 
rippling out over spaces of turquoise. 

We paid another visit to the old town of Gwalior 
and climbed the hill as far as the third gate, where 
I made a sketch showing the towers of the Man 
Mandir Palace through the arch. 

From a terrace extending- alongr the hill near this 
gate there is a fine panoramic view, the old town 
lying below, partly ruined and deserted, a mass of 
crumbling walls and complicated roof plans mingled 
with trees and gardens. 

The first gate at the foot of the hill, where is the 
guard-house, is interesting as showing the inlaid 
enamelled tile-work which decorates it partially. 
Deep turquoise is the prevailing colour, and it is 
used for the field or background of the designs, and 
is inlaid m pieces cut to fit the interstices of the 
pattern in the yellow sandstone. In a frieze of 
geese in close formal procession, the birds were cut in 
sunk relief, and the spaces between were filled with 
turquoise pieces. The tile decoration on the Man 
Mandir Palace has been done in the same way, 
yellow and green tiles being also used. 

We drove through the bazaar of the old town, a 
queer, half-ruined, and ragged place, but exceedingly 
picturesque, the natives squatting on their stalls, 
presiding over curious preparations of food and 
other wares, with chatting, many-coloured groups 
crowding around. Some of the people would look 
curiously at us, some would salaam, some were 
indifferent, others were derisive or sullen. 

There was rather an important-looking mosque 




APPROACH TO THE PAI.ACK OF MAN MANDIR, GWALIOR 



GWALIOR 139 

with minarets in the town, but many of the houses 
were roofless and deserted. 

In crossing' the bridge over the river we noted 
the people washing clothes, and a pretty pattern of 
colour was formed when the stuffs were spread out 
over the sandbanks to dry. Here, in central 
India, we were able to see more of the everyday 
life of the people, and had more opportunities of 
quiet observation of country life than usual. The 
peasants did not seem to have the curiosity of the 
natives in the towns, when one sat down to make 
a drawing-, but they went on their way, bearing 
their burdens, or driving ox-carts, or herds of 
goats, or buffalo cows, or asses. 

It was quite a change to get a grey cloudy effect 
which occurred one morning when I had found an 
interesting subject by the river-side. On the way 
thither we passed a village burning-place, strewn 
with heaps of ashes where the dead had been 
burned. The river had shrunk to a small, shallow 
stream, and at the spot where I sat was crossed by 
stepping-stones, over which groups of natives con- 
stantly passed to and fro. Cattle and ox-carts 
splashed through a shallow ford at intervals, and 
higher up natives bathed their brown bodies in the 
water. We were on the outskirts of the old town 
of Gwalior, and could see above on the rock the 
dark shapes of the Jain temples looming up 
against the sky, while around us were domes of 
cenotaphs, fragments of tombs, and broken walls, 
overshadowed by groups of fine banyan trees and 
mangoes. At an old draw-well near by groups of 
native women were continually coming and going, 



I40 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

bearing their water-jars on their heads, their 
draperies forming dehghtful schemes of colour. 

A dark thin Hindu in a white turban and waist- 
cloth was ploughing up his small patch of land near 
the river for potatoes, which members of his family 
working with him were preparing to sow. There 
were several sons — youths — two women, and some 
small children, all working on the land. 

I made a note of the plough, a very primitive 
implement, having a single shaft fixed at a right 
angle to the share, with a cross-handle at the top. 
This the ploughman held with one hand — his left 
— guiding the plough, while with his right he drove 
a small pair of zebus under a yoke, who dragged it 
along. The share was a wedge-shaped piece of 
wood, tipped with iron at the point and along its 
edge. 

Moonsawmy talked to the man while I made my 
notes, and he told me afterwards that the plough- 
man never managed to earn as much as 200 rupees 
in the year, though he and his family — I suppose 
about ten or a dozen all told — were constantly at 
work. His patch of land being near the river, one 
would have thought favourable for ra,ising crops; but 
it appeared the river not infrequently was com- 
pletely dry, and they were hard put to it for water 
for the soil. The income of the whole family 
worked out at about thirteen pounds a year at the 
most, which, taking into consideration that it had to 
be the support of about a dozen people, seemed 
narrow enough, and one could easily understand 
that the slightest failure of the crops would mean- 
something like famine. 



GWALIOH 141 

This state of things bears out the estimates of 
the average income of the Indian ryot, calculated 
by the late William Digby, CLE., after long 
residence and experience ih India, the results 
of whose study of the question are given in detail, 
from undisputed authorities, in his striking work, 
" Prosperous British India," in which is accumulated 
an appalling mass of evidence, all pointing to the 
conclusion that for famine should very largely be 
read poverty, which is also the root cause of 
bubonic plague. The railways, of course, might 
convey corn to the starving districts, but where the 
people have no money to pay for it they must 
starve all the same. Government relief-works 
being the only alternative ; but this sort of relief 
must often be too late for poor creatures reduced 
by hunger and too weak to work. 

The ordinary unprejudiced observer is naturally 
inclined to ask, Why this desperate poverty in 
an industrious population, supposed to be under 
beneficent British rule and administration ^ The 
answer must be sought in the fact that thirty millions 
and upwards are annually extracted from the 
country without any equivalent return, and this 
must necessarily mean a heavy burden of taxa- 
tion on the chief sources of wealth, land and 
labour. 

One of the greatest principles of our Constitution 
of which our public men are never tired of boasting 
is, " No taxation without representation," or, " Taxa- 
tion and representation must go hand in hand." 
This principle is, however, entirely ignored in 
India, where British rule is as autocratic as that of 




142 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Russia. Is It surprising in these circumstances 
that there should be " unrest " ? 

The educated Hindu or Mohammedan — the 
many who come to England and are trained in 
English Universities, or read for the Bar, or study 
for their degrees in medicine, feel that there is no 
part or lot for them in the administration of the 
affairs of their own country except in a very 
subordinate way. I understand that the highest 
Government post a native can attain to is the 
office of assistant-commissioner. 

Time was when, after the great upheaval of the 
Mutiny — which was really an attempt to regain 
possession of the reins of government by the native 
princes of Oude, the principle of native repre- 
sentation under British administration was advo- 
cated by leading English politicians. Nothing, 
however, came of it, and the policy of the India 
Office has remained unchanged through all the 
changes of party government, there being no 
diff'erence in this matter between Liberals and 
Conservatives. A Liberal like Mr John Morley, 
when in office as Indian Secretary, promptly orders 
the arrest and deportation without trial of Indian 
agitators under an old law of the East India 
Company which has never been ratified by the 
English Parliament. 

Mr Laipat Rai, however, appears to be a self- 
sacrificing and devoted advocate of the cause of his 
people, and as editor certainly cannot have written 
so strongly against the English Government as Mr 
H. M. Hyndman, who has for years past denounced- 
the conduct of the India Office, while challenging 



GWALIOR 143 

attention to and redress of the system under which 
the people of India are impoverished. 

The attenuated ploughman who has been the 
occasion of these remarks was a typical figure. 
Looking on such figures, able only to secure a 
bare subsistence, so common throughout India, one 
cannot but feel that all the magnificence and luxury 
of the Maharajahs, as well as the heavy burden of 
the cost of the British Government, is maintained by 
the sweat of the brows and the ceaseless toil of such 
as these. 



CHAPTER IX 

DELHI 

A FTER a stay of about a week atthe Guest House 
"^^- at Gwalior we took the road again, or rather the 
railroad, Delhi being the next place on our itinerary. 
We thought, however, to break the journey for a 
few hours at Agra, and get a view of the entry of 
the Amir, which was fixed for the 9th of January, 

It was a lowering, cloudy morning when we left 
our quarters and made for the railway station, 
where we had a long wait in the darkness. An 
enormous throng of natives filled the platform, 
squatting on the ground or standing about in 
groups, talking or sleeping under covers which hid 
them from head to foot. Most were closely 
wrapped up about the shoulders, cloths being 
wound over the turban, even so that they had 
generally a top-heavy look with bare legs. Their 
wraps were only of cotton though, as a rule, and did 
not seem adequate against the chill of the morning. 
One little swarthy man was busy writing, m_aking 
entries on sheets of paper or perhaps bills of lading. 
He squatted on the platform against one of the 
piers of the arcade, writing by the aid of a lantern's 
light. I noticed only one European besides our- 
selves in the throng, and he appeared to be an- 
English official and wore a pith helmet. 



DELHI 145 

At last up came the train from Jhansi, and we 
got in, a slumbering English officer occupying one 
of the berths. The sky, which was the only gloomy 
and threatening one we had experienced in India, 
and certainly looked leaden and hopeless enough, 
soon turned to rain, and under such an aspect the 
country looked desolate in the extreme. The 
tawny earth and fuzzy, dry grass, sparse trees of 
prickly acacia and scrub bushes, the broken hillocks 
and mounds of clay, looked more fruitless and 
forlorn under the steady, soaking rain ; groups of 
poor country folk in their thin cotton clothing- 
huddled together, waiting at the stations we passed, 
or could be seen splashing through the muddy 
pools to catch the train. 

Nearing Agra, we saw heavy artillery trains with 
field guns trailing along the wet roads. Troops 
had been pouring into Agra for some time, and 
while at Gwalior a native regiment of cavalry 
(lancers) rode by the Guest House, preceded by 
their baggage on mules and camels. 

At Agra Road Station the rain was pouring in 
torrents. There is an immense, long, exposed 
platform, along which we made our way to cover 
under the station shed, which was already crammed 
with people, mostly English and American visitors, 
army officers, and officials. 

The weather being quite hopeless, we gave up 
the idea of seeing anything of the procession, which 
of course was a military one, and then finding there 
was a dining-car in waiting, we had a scam- 
per through the rain again down the platform to 
reach it. 



146 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



After tiffin we were just in time to catch a train 
on to Delhi — in fact it had actually started, but the 
courteous station-master sent an official to stop it 




A DASH FOR THE DINING-CAR AT AGRA ROAD 



for us, and to see us safely in with our baggage. 
It was now nearly noon, but our train, a slow 
passenger one, was not due at Delhi until 5.30. 
The rain continued steadily, and damp groups of 
natives were gathered at the different stopping 



DELHI 147 

stations in various stages of discomfort. Thev did 

O J 

not, however, appear to mind the wet so much as 
one would have expected, but swathed themselves 
in all sorts of curious wraps up to the eyes, leaving 
the legs and feet bare, and some even squatted on 
the wet ground. 

The country was again a plain for the most part, 
and extensively cultivated under irrigation, several 
irrigation canals being crossed by the railway. 
Green crops of young corn seemed almost hidden 
by charlock, the yellow fields having almost the 
effect of our buttercup meadows in May. Flocks 
of black and white cranes were seen, as well as a 
large, blue, grey-plumaged kind, which are usually 
seen in pairs in the green corn. Three superior- 
caste Hindus got into our compartment and 
occupied the cross-bench at one end. One had a 
bad cough, but they kept their windows open and 
did not seem to mind draughts. Couo-hs and 
throat troubles seemed, indeed, too common in 
India, and we often heard distressing coughs in the 
hotels at night. 

The sky towards evening began to clear in the 
west, the whole solid field of rain cloud gradually 
lifting like a curtain, and the sun shining out while 
the rain continued, a brilliant rainbow appeared as 
if painted on the black wall of cloud to the eastward. 

The line passes through a part of old Delhi, a 
vast region of broken tombs and ruined walls lying 
outside the walls of the present city, and afar off we 
could see the domes and minarets of the Great 
Jama Musjid Mosque. 

We got in in good time, and collecting our heavy 



148 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

baggage sent on from Gwalior, drove to Maiden's 
Hotel, through streets dark with rain and standing 
in pools of water, a stormy orange sunset casting a 
warm glow over everything. The hotel was on 
the usual Indian plan, with a centre and two arcaded 
winofs enclosingf a court, along: which a series of 
ground-floor, bungalow-like bed- and bath-rooms 
extended, chilly enough at this time of year in the 
mornings and evenings, especially in wet weather. 
The hotel itself was under English management, 
and there were large open fires in the dining-room 
and salon, which looked comfortable, and the l 
cookery was superior to most of the others we had j 
experienced. Letters from England awaited us, / 
and added to our satisfaction. No doubt the mails 
are delivered with wonderful regularity, and so 
long as the traveller can arrange his tour in order 
that his letters shall meet him at certain places, 
and does not leave before the mail arrives, no 
complications occur. It is only when letters follow 
one about instead of preceding one that delay and 
difficulties occur. 

The next morning (January lo) was grey, chill, 1 
and damp, when we started after breakfast to see ) 
Delhi. The hotels and the British residential quarter / 
lie quite outside the native town, as is usually the case, 
amid spacious, park-like grounds, here pleasantly 
undulating, and varied with gardens and fine groups 
of trees. The town is walled, and has a broad dry 
ditch as a farther defence. We drove through the 
famous Kashmir Gate, renowned for the British 
assault at the time of the Mutiny, which remains in 
the battered condition in which it was left after the 



DELHI 149 

siege, with great shot-holes in its masonry, as well 
as in the walls each side. A tablet records the 
circumstances of the siege, and the names of the 
officers and soldiers who distinguished themselves 
at that terrific time. 

The gate has two ogee-pointed arches, enclosed 
in rectangular mouldings in the usual Mogul fashion. 
As one enters the city, inscribed tablets recording 
incidents of the siege are numerous, and the British 
authorities have certainly been most careful to pre- 
serve the memory of their side of the fight along 
with the names of their military heroes, and every 
noteworthy spot in the struggle is commemorated 
in this way. In addition to such incidental monu- 
ments there is the Mutiny Memorial, an important 
red-sandstone erection (i 10 feet high) outside the 
gates, upon a rising ground, and so placed that a 
complete view can be obtained from its summit of 
the lines of the siege. 

At the fort, which was formerly the Imperial 
Palace of the Moguls (built in a.d. 162S-58 by 
Shah Jehan), it is distressing to see the ruthless 
destruction of superb buildings for which the British 
have been responsible, and the barbarous way in 
which hideous barrack structures have been sub- 
stituted. The fort, or palace, is entered through 
a noble, deep-red sandstone gate. The Lahore, or, 
as it is now called, the Victoria Gate, and the fine 
court, is marred by these ugly modern military 
barracks for which so much beauty was sacrificed. 
We were shown two splendid halls, the Diwan- 
i-am, or public hall of audience, and the Diwan-i- 
khas, or private hall of audience. This is of white 



I50 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

marble with beautiful inlays of precious stones, with 
a richly decorated ceiling- in colour and gold. A 
marble pedestal is pointed out as the place 
whereon the wonderful peacock throne stood. 
This must indeed have been gorgeous, the seat 
between two peacocks with spread tails, and these 
encrusted with sapphires, diamonds, rubies, and 
emeralds, representing the natural colours of the 
plumage, a true emblem of oriental magnincence. 
Over the arches of the arcade in this hall is a 
Persian inscription in raised and gilt characters, 
which reads, " If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, 
it is this, it is this." This costly " paradise," again, 
was built by the builder of the Taj Mahal, Shah 
Jehan, who seems to have outshone all the Mogul 
emperors by the splendour of his buildings. Of 
course there are no diamonds, or rubies, or emeralds 
left, and even the small stones used in the decorative 
floral inlays have in many cases been picked out. It 
is said that Lord Curzon employed Florentine work- 
men to replace some of this work at his own expense. 

The decoration of the walls and ceilings in the 
zenana rooms, consisting of painted and gilded 
arabesques, was very lovely, and the marble Akab 
Baths exquisite. The river (Jumna) formerly flowed 
up to the walls of the palace on that side, and from 
a beautiful minaret we could see the river beyond a 
belt of green foliage, and get a fine perspective 
view up and down of the palace wall and buildings. 

Near by, on the other side of the court, is the 
Rung Mahal, which is distinguished by particularly 
fine pierced screen-work. The vaulted rooms 
connected with this building were till recently 



DELHI 151 

used as officers' mess-rooms, when all their beautiful 
decoration were obliterated with whitewash. 

Opposite to the Akab Baths is the Moti Musjid, 
called the Pearl Mosque, a most exquisite little 
building of white marble, a cluster of three domes 
and many slender pinnacles terminated by lotus 
flowers. It has many-cusped arches of Saracenic 
character, and a fine bronze door. 

It is sad to think that these lovely buildings are 
after all only remnants of what were once on this 
spot when this Imperial Palace was complete in all 
its splendour. The Burj-i-Shameli, the great marble 
bath-room ; the Metiaz-Mehal, a huge quadrangle of 
palaces enclosing a garden 300 feet square ; the 
Nobatkhama or music gate, the Golden Mosque, 
the hareem courts, and fifty other lovely pavilions, 
fountains, and gardens — think of it ! The late W.S. 
Caine, writing in his " Picturesque India," adds the 
following passage : " These and other glories of the 
palace have all been swept away by successive 
barbarians. Nadir Shah, Ahmed Khan, and the 
Maratha chiefs were content to strip the buildings 
of their precious metals and jewelled thrones : to 
the government of the Empress of India was left 
the last dregs of vandalism, which, after the 
Mutiny, pulled down these perfect monuments of 
Mughal art, to make room for the ugliest brick 
buildings from Simla to Ceylon." 

The Jama Musjid at Delhi is on a splendid 
scale, a mosque of red sandstone inlaid with white 
marble. There are four great gateways, approached 
by long flights of steps, through which the great 
arcaded square court, in which the mosque stands, 



152 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

is entered. Reputed relics of Buddha are shown 
to visitors at a shrine at one corner of the court. 
On the eastern side the mosque faces an open 
plain from which a large slice of the native city, 
which once surrounded the mosque, had been cleared 
by the Government. This gives a clear view of the 
noble building on this side, but must have been 
rather distinctive of the character of the place, and 
one would have thought the mosque, standing so 
high as it does, would have easily dominated the 
native houses. In fact, if it had been designed for 
a site on an open plain, there would have been no 
necessity to raise it on such a lofty platform. 
Modern improvers are apt to forget the logic of art. 

We went up a side street in the native town on 
the other side of the mosque to see the Jain 
temple, which is an interesting and richly decorated 
small building in the Mogul style of architecture, 
approached by a doorway in the street and reached 
by a flight of steps. It is extremely beautiful in 
detail. In the curious street there were many 
interesting Mogul doorways. We stopped at a 
stall to buy some specimens of the glass and 
lacquered bracelets commonly worn by the native 
women which only cost a few annas. 

The Chandni Chowk (or silver street) is the 
main business street or bazaar of Delhi. It is very 
wide, and has a sort of long island down the middle 
planted with trees. This was said to have been 
originally an aqueduct. It runs east and west, and 
we saw a strikino- effect one eveningf^ — the o-lowinor 
sunset behind the dark masses of the trees, the end 
of the vista lost in mysterious gloom ; twinkling 



DELHI 153 

lights, here and there, about the white awnings of 
the stalls under the trees ; white turbaned figures of 
natives moving noiselessly up and down, ox-carts 
and pony tongas, wandering sacred zebus, and all the 
mixed and varied character of an Indian bazaar 
form a wonderful and picturesque ensemble. 

Individualistic commercial competition is well 
illustrated in the Chandni Chowk, The traveller 
is besieged by touts thrusting their cards into his 
hand, or throwing them Into his carriage, or 
surrounding it with the most importunate solicita- 
tions to see their shops. 

We visited an ivory carver's workshop in a street 
leading out of the Chowk. My impression was 
about this, as in regard to other native handicrafts, 
that it was now a craft as distinct from an art. 
We saw the carvers at work, quite a number. It 
was a species of factory. There were draughtsmen 
and designers, and miniature painters and inlayers, 
quite distinct from the carvers. The former draw 
the patterns on the ivory with a pencil. There 
were some young boys learning to draw from the 
craft ; one was drawing a bird on a slate. The skill 
of the ivory-carvers was very wonderful : they could 
carve a figure inside an open scroll-work and leave 
it distinct, and there were feats of this kind of which 
they seemed to be most proud ; but these craftsmen 
seemed to work almost mechanically, no doubt 
entirely to order, and without any initiative of their 
own in the way of design. They sat cross-legged 
on the floor, and more in one room than our factory 
inspectors would probably approve. The works 
here were mostly produced for ready sale to the 



154 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

tourist. Elephants and paper knives were — I was 
going to say, walking hand in hand — all over the 
shop, and small models of the Taj Mahal ran them 
close, models of native ox-carts, tongas, and palkis, 
the native ploughman and his yoke of oxen, and 
such-like images of familar things of Indian life ; 
elaborate chess-men, and inlaid caskets with little 
miniatures of the Taj Mahal and the Jama Musjid 
inserted, in fact all sorts of ivory toys were there, 
consciously prepared for the Western eye, and too 
often the Western want of taste. A loquacious 
Parsee-looking proprietor or manager showed us 
over this establishment. He had the air of a 
general director of the works, etc. While not at all 
pressing, he took care to show all his attractive 
things, beginning at the most elaborate and costly 
articles, and skilfully grading downwards, until in 
price they were within measurable distance of the 
visitor's purse. 

My wife found that native home-spun linen 
and silks for embroidery were difficult to find in 
the Chandni Chowk, where there were plenty of 
European goods. 

On January nth there was a slight frost. The 
early morning was quite misty, too, but the sun 
came out later, and there was a strong cold wind 
from the east in spite of the clear, bright, blue sky 
and the brilliant sunshine. It suited Delhi far 
better than the grey sky under which we had seen 
it the first morning of our visit, and was favourable 
for our excursion to the Kutab Minar, eleven miles 
out. Driving through the Delhi and Kashmir Gates 
again, and along the road past the Jama Musjid, 



DELHI 155 

and out again at a farther gate to the south-east, 
we traversed the region known as Old Delhi, a 
wonderful tract of ruined cities, shattered buildlnors, 
mingled with noble tombs, mosques, and minarets, 
extending for many miles outside the present city. 
Domes of tombs were seen on all sides, and broken 
walls, and the ground was strewn with bricks and 
stones. Trees (acacias and tamarinds mostly) 
bordered the road. Our native coachman (a good 
guide) spoke of No. 8 city, and pointed out its 
ruined gate, under which we passed. Farther on 
we took a branch road and stopped before the noble 
gate of the ancient city of Indrapat with its strong 
walls and bastions. Leaving our carriage, we 
passed through the gate and on past a squalid 
group of wretched huts, where poverty-stricken 
natives huddled toofether about their tumble-down 
dwellings, and where native children were inclined 
to be rude. Farther along the broken path we 
reached a spacious octagonal mosque of red 
sandstone on a marble platform. This was the 
mosque of Shir Shah (a.d. 1541). The contrast 
between the dignity of this building and the 
squalor of the village was striking and saddening. 

Resuming our road, we next reached the splendid 
tomb of Humayun (built by Akbar the Great about 
1560 A.D,, in memory of his father the Emperor 
Humayun). An important gateway led into a 
garden with long tanks and flagged pathways, 
bordered by formal green hedges, which led up 
to a spacious platform upon which the noble tomb 
was built. In the central chamber under the tomb 
the actual tombstone was screened by pierced 



156 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

marble. There was also a smaller chamber of 
tombs, each side the central one. The building 
was of red sandstone, inlaid with white marble with 
a central dome and four minarets. It seemed to 
be a prototype of the great Akbar's own tomb we 
had seen at Sikandra. 

Then on again we went, making another short 
detour from the main road to the cemetery of 
Nizam-ud-din. Entering through the gateway, we 
came upon a deep tank, surrounded with buildings. 
On the flattened dome of one — the Nizam's well- 
house — sat a group of brown-skinned youths, ready 
to dive into the water, a dive of about seventy feet, 
for backsheesh, and the entertainment of the visitor. 
A passage from this led into a marble court, in 
the centre of which was the white, marble-domed 
tomb of the Nizam, brilliantly decorated with 
arabesques in colour. It reminded one of the 
shrine of the Kwaja in the Dargarh at Ajmir. 
There were also other tombs in the court, one to 
the poet Khusru, whose songs are said to be still 
popular in India. An interesting one is that of 
Jahanara Begum, daughter of the Emperor Shah 
Jehan, on which is an inscription to the effect that 
she begs that nothing but grass may cover her. 
Certainly her wishes are fulfilled, as the grass grows 
freely in the marble-sided tomb which has no cover. 
Up some steps was the modern tomb of Mirza 
Jahangir, but a beautiful marble one. 

The carving in marble and ornaments of all these 
tombs were exceedingly delicate and beautiful, and 
would compare well with the work on the Taj Mahal.- 

The visitor on leaving is embarrassed by the 



DELHI 157 

number of claimants of fees. There seemed to be 
a different custode for every tomb in the place, and 
the crowd of hangers-on, hungry for backsheesh, 
rather spoils the pleasure which the sight of so 
much beautiful work gives. 

Returning to the road again and continuing our 
drive, it was not long before we descried the 
great Kutab Minar rising up above the trees 
in front of us. We had indeed caught a glimpse 
of it miles away, when the tower was almost lost 
in the haze. There is a good little bungalow close 
by where the traveller can get tiffin, or put up for 
the night if so minded. 

The Minar, tapering upwards to an astonishing 
height (238 feet), piercing the clear blue sky, is 
of red sandstone with a white marble top story. 
There are five stories, and the summit was formerly 
crowned by a small cupola and open arcade, which 
was destroyed by a storm, and a model of it has 
been placed near by. Successive bands of small 
carving are carried across the deep flutings, both 
semicircular and rectangular alternately on the 
lower storey, semicircular in the second, rectangular 
in the third, a plain cylinder forming the fourth, 
while the fifth and last is partly fluted and partly 
plain. These bands are composed of texts from 
the Koran, the Arabic characters having a rich 
ornamental effect, the carving being wonderfully 
sharp and unimpaired, although it dates from the 
twelfth and the latter part of the thirteenth 
century (a.d. 1210-20), having been built as a tower 
of Victory, commenced by Kutab-ud-din, and com- 
pleted by his successor, Altamsh. 



158 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

The tower was built in the centre of the old 
Hindu fortress of Lalkot (a.d. 1060). At its foot 
are various ruins, the most extensive being 
those of a fine Mohammedan mosque, constructed 
out of the materials of, and incorporated with an 
ancient Hindu temple, the original columns of the 
latter remaining to form the colonnade of the court. 

The images of the Hindu gods have been mostly 
defaced when they occurred in the carving. 

There is a fine Mogul arch of red sandstone, 
similar in treatment and style to " the mosque of 
two and a half days " at Ajmir, In front of this, in 
the centre of the court, stands a remarkable pillar 
of solid wrought iron, supposed to date from a.d. 
300 to 400. It is dedicated to Vishnu, and there 
are lines in Sanscrit inscribed around it. The 
wonder is that such a massive thing in iron could 
have been forged at that early period. 

Returning to Delhi by a different road we passed 
another important-looking tomb, also near the out- 
skirts of the present city, the ruins of the Observa- 
tories built by different rajahs in the eighteenth 
century, which impress one as weighty evidences 
of the philosophical knowledge and culture of these 
native princes. A moon observatory was pointed 
out to us, and a vast circular building. The groups 
of ruined buildings hereabout recalled to us the 
Roman Campagna and its fragments. 

Our coachman (who was perhaps more careful 
as a guide than as a Jehu) collided rather violently 
with a tonga just outside the city, and the con- 
sequences might have been serious, but the wheels 
were the chief sufferers, and the tonga must have 



DELHI 



159 



got the worst of the jolt, one of the native 
passengers being thrown out. No bones were 
broken, and the incident did not seem to be 




DELHI DRIVING. WANTED — A RULE OF THE ROAD 



regarded as at all an unusual occurrence. There 
seems no rule of the road in India, and so risks are 
constantly run. In the crowded streets the drivers 
rely on the power of their lungs to shout out 
warnings of their approach, and it is a marvel 
people escape being run over, and that collisions 
are not more frequent and worse than they are. 
At the hotel, where the custom of small, separate, 



i6o INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

circular dining-tables obtained, we happened to 
meet a very agreeable Anglo-American family from 
Ceylon, who were travelling in India, and were 
returning to their home at Colombo, before visiting 
Japan and Europe. We discovered we had several 
friends in common, and promised to visit them when 
we came to Ceylon. 

I got a coloured drawing of the Jama Musjid from 
the plain before mentioned, where a few trees 
afforded a little shade, the sun being very strong, 
although a cool wind was still blowing^ from the 
east. The light was particularly clear and the 
shadows sharp, so that the architecture looked re- 
markably distinct, the effect being almost hard. 

We had a stroll in the park-like grounds near 
the Club. There was an old and much overgrown 
Mogul archway here, which had been considerably 
battered in the siege. There were fine cypresses and 
other trees, and among them little flights of green 
parroquets flew with their shrill scream — their 
flight and their notes reminding one of our swifts. 
Toucans were also to be seen, and of course the 
palm squirrels. We watched a whole colony of 
them sleeping in the hollow of a fine old banyan 
tree. 



CHAPTER X 

AMRITZAR AND LAHORE 

T^T'E left Delhi by a night train — the Punjab 
' ' Mail — for Amritzar, but we had a long 
wait at the station, as the train was two hours late. 
The station was thronged with natives bound for 
some religious festival connected with the approach- 
ing eclipse of the sun. There was a seething mass 
of dark humanity at the entrance, through which we 
had almost to fight our way to the platform. 

Our route was by way of Umballa, which we 
reached in the early morning. The country was 
wrapped in a thick white mist before the sun 
rose, when it gradually cleared. Beyond Umballa 
the country was very flat, the dry lands varied with 
green crops and yellow with charlock, as before, 
and dotted with acacia trees. Occasionally we 
crossed wide rivers, or river beds, and the usual 
flocks of white cranes and brown kites were seen. 
Jullumpore was another junction where our train 
stopped. It looked an interesting place from the 
railway, a walled town with towers and ancient 
mosques. After leaving Pillour (the refreshment 
station) a very broad river was crossed, and on the 
wide sands of the dry part of its bed, almost like a 
desert, we saw a train of thirty camels moving 
slowly in single file. 



l62 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



We did not reach Amritzar until about i p.m., 
more than three hours after time ! On emerging 
from the station, despite our bearer, we were nearly- 
torn to pieces by hotel touts. 

The Alexandra hotel had been named to us and 




SHE won't be happy TILL SHE GETS EVERYTHING PACKED UP 



we asked for its representative, but it appeared there 
was no such hotel at Amritzar. Each rival tout 
clamoured for our custom, declaring that the hotel 
he represented was the true and only successor to 
the mythical Alexandra.* One went so far as to 

* We learned afterwards that it was the custom to change the names of 
hotels every six months or so, 



AMRTTZAR AND LAHORE 



i6 



say he had received a post-card from us, but when 
asked to produce it only showed a letter from 
some one else ! Finally we got into a carriage, 




DEMON HOTEL TOUTS AT AMRITZAR FIGHTING FOR THEIR PREY 



which was immediately stormed by the irrepres- 
sible touts, one seating himself on the box, one on 
the step each side, and I don't know how many 
hanoring- on behind. Not liking- the look of the first 
hotel they took us to, we tried a second and decided 
to put up there, and so gradually shook off the touts. 
There was more of an Eastern character about our 



i64 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

quarters here than we had hitherto experienced. 
The hotel was quite an Oriental serai in an Eastern 
garden, our rooms being in a sort of Indian villa, 
opening on to a terrace with steps down into the 
garden, with its narrow straight paths between 
fruit trees, and our room was rather like a small 
temple or chapel with recessed walls and ogee 
arched doorways, a raftered ceiling, and clerestory 
windows. Built for coolness, no doubt, we now , 
found it positively cold in the mornings and evenings, j 
and although there was a fireplace the lighting of ; 
a wood fire made matters worse, for we were nearly [ 
smoked out. 

There were several English or Anglo-English at 
table preserving their characteristic frigidity in the 
presence of strangers. A gentleman from Man- 
chester was the only one who showed a friendly 
disposition and who had any conversation. 

Driving through the city we had recourse to 
smelling-bottles, as owing to the open drains each 
side the streets the odours which saluted our nostrils 
were rather trying. I had noticed these open 
gulleys at Delhi and in the native quarters in other 
towns. They run close in front of the houses and 
open shops of the bazaars, and are crossed by slabs 
of stone placed across them at intervals to give 
access to the houses, and as all sorts of refuse finds 
its way into them it is not surprising they should be 
offensive sometimes, though it had not been nearly 
so noticeable elsewhere. Amritzar is said to have 
the benefit of the advice of an English sanitary 
engineer. 

The street did not strike us as so varied and 



AMRITZAR AND LAHORE 165 

interestlne as other cities we had seen, and the 
house fronts seemed plainer and more modern, as 
a rule, though the streets were narrow enough. 

From a sort of terrace we got our first view of 
the Golden Temple, which is built in the centre of 




THROUGH AMRITZAR — SIT TIGHT AND HOLD A SMELLING BOTTLE ! 



the large tank or lake in the centre of the city. A 
broad paved causeway connects with the paved 
walk along two sides of the lake. After the magnifi- 
cent and beautifully proportioned Mogul architec- 
ture of Agra and Delhi, the Golden Temple, 
built at the beginning of the nineteenth century 
is rather disappointing, despite its gilded domes, 
the building looking rather squat, though the gold 
reflected in the rippling water has a charming effect. 
The gilded dome of the Atal tower also shows over 



1 66 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

the buildings behind the temple seen from the terrace. 
Leaving our carriage at this spot we were sur- 
rounded and eyed by a curious crowd. Rival 
guides apparently contended for us, and there was 
a sudden quarrel, ending in a free fight, between 
two of them, the end of which we did not remain 
to see. The temple and its precincts is held most 
sacred by the Sikhs, Amritzar being their religious 
centre, the place is most jealously watched. It 
seemed impossible to get away from the crowd, 
who appeared to be none too friendly to strangers, 
and sketching was out of the question without a 
bodyguard. 

We had a very courteous and kind reception from 
Dr Dinghra, three of whose sons we had known in 
London. One son and his wife were staying with 
him, and we spent a pleasant hour under his 
hospitable roof, and he presented us with handsome 
saddle bags, made of the local carpet, on leaving. 
He also introduced us to one of the leading citizens, 
a magistrate, who had an extensive pile carpet 
manufactory, and he showed us over the works. 
These were long sheds, having round arched 
arcades opening on to a court, and in these were a 
series of high-warp hand-looms with rows of shuttles 
filled with the different coloured wools hanging 
from the top. The weavers sat, or rather squatted, 
in a row on the ground in front of the warp and 
worked in the pattern. They were young boys 
and youths trained to the work early. They 
used a small curved knife like a small sickle 
to shear off the ends of their threads and press 
them home when a particular bit of coloured 



AMRITZAR AND LAHORE 167 

pattern was finished. Little oblong labels written 
in Arabic were placed on the warp in front of each 
weaver, which gave the written directions for the 
colours to be used in the work. No individual 
judgment or choice appeared to be exercised by 
the weavers. 

There was a design room also open to the court 
under an arcade, here some quite aged natives were 
preparing designs, sketching them out in pencil or 
charcoal on squared paper, quite in the European 
method, and in some cases working from photo- 
graphs of special carpets. 

I learned from the manager that the working 
hours in this factory were from 8 a.m. till dark. 
The boy weavers only got one and a half annas a 
day ! We finally were shown the finished product 
— a whole series of large handsome carpets being 
rolled out for us to see. One of these, of a Persian 
kind of design, would be priced at 200 rupees, the 
manager said. Before leaving we were requested 
to write our names, and any remarks on our visit, 
in a visitor's book, where the list had been headed 
by the Prince and Princess of Wales, who visited 
these works on their tour in India in 1905. 

In the forenoon of January 14th we saw the 
eclipse of the sun from our terrace. It rather took 
us by surprise — the light quickly becoming curiously 
pale like moonlight and the air unusually chilly. 
We could see the sun turned into a crescent quite 
distinctly, and pass through various phases like a 
moon, till it gradually regained its normal shape 
and power shortly after noon. 

As we sat on the terrace a native pedlar 



i68 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



approached with two portentous bundles. He 
salaamed, and proceeded to unload his wares in front 
of us. His stock, however, consisted entirely of 




AN INDIAN AUTOLYCUS 



European goods — small wares such as tapes and 
buttons, studs, soaps and perfumes, patent medicines, 
and such articles as are supposed to meet the wants 
of travellers. This Indian Autolycus addressed us 
as "Father" and "Mother," and Hke the "Mad 
Hatter" commenced his speeches by saying "me 
very poor man," following this announcement by 



AMRITZAR AND LAHORE 169 

urgent appeals to us to buy, after each purchase, 
beginning all over again afresh. Probably he felt 
he had to make the most of his English, as well as 
of his stock and his opportunities. 

After another look at the Golden Temple, which 
it was impossible to approach without a crowd and 
without clumsy canvas shoes over our own, we 
made our way round to the Atal tower. Here, 
again, before entering the anything but clean marble 
court shoes had to be put off It is an octagonal 
shrine, or tomb, having curious beaten metal plates, 
gilded figure designs in repousse over the doors, 
but the decorative art here was much inferior in 
design and detail to what we had seen further 
south. 

We then drove to the public gardens in which 
stands the pavilion of Ranji Singh. The gardens 
are full of beautiful palms and trees of many 
different kinds, including fine cypresses and splendid 
clumps of bamboos. The roads around Amritzar 
are lined with trees, and one sees enormous banyans 
spreading their great branches and masses of dark 
green foliage and casting deep shadows on the long 
avenues. Large plantations and fruit gardens, too, 
surround the city, so that it has a very attractive 
look although on a dead level. 

Oranges of a large rough-skinned kind are grown 
here. They are deep-coloured, and more like 
lemons in shape. There was also a very small 
circular orange about the size of a large cherry in 
the hotel garden, where roses, pansies, and violets 
were blooming freely. The native gardener was 
generally to the fore in offering us small posies or 



I JO INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

buttonholes whenever he had an opportunity and 
for a consideration. 

We left Amritzar for Lahore on January the 15th, 
having another long wait for the Punjab mail, this 
time three hours behind time. However, about 
noon another train came up and we were advised 
by the stationmaster to go on by that in preference 
to waiting longer for the mail. This train, he said, 
would take us to Lahore more quickly than the 
quick train, which sounds like a contradiction in 
terms. It is only about an hour's journey. 

The country between Amritzar and Lahore is, 
again, flat and has no striking features. Fields 
under irrigation green with young crops of corn, 
often smothered in charlock, alternated with dry 
fields or the standing canes of ripe crops, and 
stubbles of some newly reaped. The wells were 
plentiful. Some of the irrigation wells in this 
district are of a different pattern and mechanism to 
the simple draw-well seen generally. A pair of 
oxen turn a horizontal heavy wooden wheel which 
has slots at regular intervals around the outside of 
its rim. These slots catch the projecting spokes 
or straight cogs of another wheel, also horizontally 
placed and smaller in size, and this in turn by means 
of the coos moves a larcje water wheel arrano-ed in a 
vertical position, the projecting cogs catching the 
spokes of this wheel, which has a series of leather 
buckets or water pots attached to its broad rim, on 
the same principle as we see in dredging machines. 
As the wheel turns the buckets are dipped one after 
the other into the well, and as they rise again full 
empty their contents into a trough immediately in 



AMRITZAR AND LAHORE 171 

front of the wheel, which communicates with another 
trough connected with the irrigating trenches, which 
are thus supphed with water. 

The station at Lahore was comparatively quiet 
and was a pleasing contrast to the turbulent crowd 
at Amritzar. The Charing Cross hotel received us, 
but anything less suggestive of the associations its 
name recalled it would be difficult to imagine. It 
was of the usual extended bungalow type, with long 
arcades in front of ranges of oround floor rooms, 
spacious and lofty and reminding rather of the vast 
rooms one sees on the stagfe with raftered ceilino-s 
and whitewashed walls. The lower wall of our 
sitting-room, however, was hung with very interesting 
Indian hand-painted cotton hangings, which gave it 
rather a distinguished appearance. There was a 
bedroom, something between a prison and a chapel, 
and dressing and the usual bath rooms, with zinc 
tubs, opening out beyond. There were large 
sitting and dining rooms, the latter an enormous 
one, like the nave of a church, lighted by a clerestory 
only, and cold enough, where people dined rather 
frigidly, each group at a safe distance at separate 
little round tables. We were glad of a log-fire in 
the evenings, though the sun was powerful enough 
during the day. " The Charing Cross post office" 
was close by, which had one pigeon hole, and where 
the stamps were sold outside under the verandah, 
by a native squatting on the ground. 

A fine broad avenue through the English quarter 
is called " The Mall," and here the principal 
government buildings are situated, the Law courts 
and the Museum, and the principal stores and 



(72 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



bungalows. This British residential and business 
quarter is quite distinct and lies quite clear outside 
the walls of the native city of Lahore. It is laid 
out in broad drives with tan rides at the side, 




ENJOYING A LOG FIRE AT LAHORE 



and bordered with trees. Bungalows and shops 
and stores in the shape of bungalows standing 
detached in gardens are arranged pleasantly from 
the modern residential point of view, and forms 
quite a "garden city," only marred by the atrocious 
way in which the traders announce their names and 
business in staring white block-letters on black 
boards. One piano warehouse, I noticed, had 
even a sky sign. Even the private residences are 



AMRITZAR AND LAHORE 173 

often disfigured in the same way by black boards 
with the name of the occupier in the ugHest block- 
letters. 

The gardens and hedges, often of roses trained 
on trellises of bamboo, are kept very trim up and 
down the Mall. 

Smart English ladiesandofficersride or drive about 
in their dog-carts with native tigers behind. We 
met a very imposing and original turn out — a fine 
pair of brown camels, well matched, were harnessed 
to a sort of barouche, each ridden, postilion-wise, 
by native servants in scarlet, one in the same colour 
behind the carriage, which contained two English 
ladies. This was probably the Lieutenant-Governor's 
carriage. Bicycles were much in use both by 
Europeans' (men and women) and natives — the 
turban and loose pyjama-like clothes of the latter 
looking strange on the machine. The natives, 
however, everywhere in the towns where the 
Europeans' influence comes in seem to take to 
machines. The sewing machine is constantly seen 
in the bazaars, always, however, worked by a man. 
A certain firm's poster of the eternal woman en- 
closed in a hideous S (like a modern Eve and the 
industrial serpent) looks particularly incongruous 
and out of place in India, where there seems to be 
no women working at crafts. The men do the 
washing too, the Dhobee in white with his 
bundle of linen being a frequent and characteristic 
figure. 

No greater contrast could be imagined than that 
between the English quarter and the native city 
lying within its old walls and great gates, with its 



174 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

narrow picturesque streets and — stinks! Open drains 
as at Amritzar run along each side of the streets, 
close in front of the bazaar, where the people sit. 
The fronts of the houses above the open shops are 
mostly of wood of a dark rich tone, corbelled 
arcaded balconies and windows jutting out over the 
street at all sorts of angles, rich with delicate and 
varied carvings, as if the builders had vied with each 
other which should make the most interesting- front. 
There are charming little covered verandahs and 
balconies with slender columns and ogee arches, 
and pierced screen-work painted here and there, 
but mostly the deep dusky brown tone of the 
natural wood, dark with age, which forms an effective 
background to the vivid colours and glitter of 
costumes and draperies of the bazaars. The newly 
dyed long strips of cotton or muslin in orange or 
pink, green or lemon yellow which are hung out to 
dry, wave like long banners over the busy life of 
the narrow streets, where the turbaned and many 
coloured, swarthy faced crowd, jostle along, or 
stand in chattering groups about the shops, buying 
and selling. The types, too, are very varied — the 
Hindu, the Mohammedan, the Afghan, the country 
folk ; the Mohammedan woman in trousers, the 
Hindu woman in her graceful Sari, with her glitter- 
ing silver anklets, and bracelets, toe-rings and nose- 
rings ; dark eyes and shining whites momentarily 
seen, and gleaming teeth, the mysterious looking 
fio-ures covered from head to foot in flowino- white 
drapery, pleated into a close fitting cap, with little 
perforations for the eyes, in front, the effect of the 
whole being ghostly, or even ghoulish. The white 



AMRITZAR AND LAHORE 175 

mystery being only betrayed by a brown foot 
beneath and the gleam of a silver anklet which tells 
one it is only the disguise of a Mohammedan woman. 




■'' THE WOMAN IN WHITE ' ' AT LAHORE (SUGGESTION 
FOR A DISGUISE PARTY) 



Here again it was rather disappointing to see 
the native bazaars full of European goods, and a 
trivial cheap kind at that. European commerce has 
evidently got its foot in. Blue enamelled basins 
and cups, tin ware, tapes and buttons, braces, socks 
and ugly woollen scarfs in aniline colours are seen 



176 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

everywhere. It Is true that one occasionally may 
see a native handicraftsman at work, such as the 
man who prints the ornamental borders on the 
edges of the muslin veils of the women, and picks 
them out in silver leaf, silver or orange being a 
favourite arrangement. The metal-worker is also 
frequent, though he often only makes zinc stoves. 
The food shops are the most numerous, set out 
with piles of curious yellow cakes and sweets of all 
sorts and sizes, the cooking stove being often in 
front of the shop, made of clay or mud with a tiny 
hole in which they produce hot little fires. 

Through the bazaars our carriage worked its way 
as through a labyrinth. The mixed throng of 
buyers and sellers, beggars and brown babies, and 
cheeky little street Arabs, who are inclined to be 
rude to the stranger generally, tongas, buffaloes, 
herds of goats, stray zebu bulls, and fat-tailed sheep. 

These latter we first saw at Delhi. They are 
originally from Tibet. The enormous develop- 
ment of the tail, or fleece of the tail, has a very 
extraordinary effect, as if the animal carried a bag 
of wool behind it, both broad and long and nearly 
touching the ground. Occasionally we saw one of 
these animals (rams) dyed with orange colour, and 
marked with curious patterns all over its fleece. 

Passing through the bazaars we arrived at a 
large open space, and soon reached the (Roshanai) 
ofate of the Fort on the other side of it. There the 
English sentry, after saying an order was necessary, 
called an orderly to take us round. Just inside the 
gate we got a view of the old wall of the palace 
decorated by tiles, the colours being similar to those 



AMRITZAK AND LAHORE 177 

used at Gwalior, at the Man-Mandir palace, 
principally turquoise, green, and lemon yellow, 
the tile- work beingf arranofed in bands or friezes 
of elephants and birds in profile, let into the red 
sandstone. 

The very stolid British " Tommy " in khaki con- 
ducted us, in slow marching order and in solemn 
silence, up the long sloping road to the square of 
the Fort where he pointed out, without emotion, a 
colonnaded Hall of audience, and then took us 
through a gateway into the rather spacious court 
of the old palace of Akbar, who also built the Fort. 
On one side of the court was an interesting armoury 
of Sikh weapons, beginning with suits of fine chain 
mail and Persian-looking steel topis, damasceened 
and bossed circular targes up to flint-locks, and 
match-locks, and blunderbusses. 

There was quite a medieval-looking heavy steel 
mace, and many sabres, and sword sticks, some 
made with crutch handles terminating in horses' 
heads. There were also a number of steel cuirasses. 
I believe this armoury was arranged by Mr 
Kipling, the father of Mr Rudyard Kipling, who 
was head of the art school of Lahore for many years, 
and to whom is due the extremely interesting 
museum. 

There were relics of elaborate decoration on the 
walls and vaults of what remained of the palace, 
and some of the glass (convex-mirror-mosaic) work 
united with gesso-relief ornament, which we saw 
at Udaipur, Amber, Delhi, and other places : but 
the British occupation had tried its best, by 
introducing hideous chunks of barrack buildings, 

M 



178 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

to take the romance and beauty out of the 
place. 

Close to the Fort outside its gate is the Samadh, 
or burning-place of Ranjit Singh. A carved lotus 
flower, surrounded by eleven smaller ones, on a 
raised platform inside the pavilion-like building, 
mark the place where his body was burned with 
eleven ladies of his Zenana. Not far off rises the 
dome of the Jama Musjid and its noble minarets 
of red sandstone. 

There is a fine park-like country beyond the walls 
on this side of the city with groups of old trees. 
The minarets and domes of Lahore have a striking 
effect seen from outside the gate. We returned 
through the bazaars a different way, passing the 
golden domed mosque and also the Wazar Khan 
mosque, the latter a very fine one fronting a small 
square in the middle of the city, and having two 
large minarets faced with enamelled tiles in blue 
and green and other colours, cobalt predominating. 
The spandrils of the main entrance, and in fact the 
whole of the front, being decorated with tiles in 
large arabesques and borderings, a large Arabic 
text in blue written boldly over the arch, and panels 
down each flank of smaller scale work. It was the 
first tiled mosque we had seen, and quite character- 
istic of the art of a district which culminates in the 
renowned tombs at Multan. 

At the English club house on the Mall, the 
pipers of a Highland regiment were playing on 
the lawn in front. The club had well laid out and 
ample lawn tennis courts, large blue durries being 
hung at each end of the courts to stop the balls, 



AMRITZAR AND LAHORE 179 

and the players had native caddies to pick them up. 
There were zoological gardens near by where we 
saw nylghaus and antelopes and birds of various 
sorts. 

A Victoria memorial on a laro-e scale was in 
progress at a place where branching roads met. 
The work of the British sculptor in India cannot 
be said to be much more exhilarating than the work 
of the British architect, as a rule, to judge from the 
specimens we saw, chiefly of statues of the late 
Queen Victoria. 

The courts of Justice at Lahore are more suc- 
cessful than most of the modern examples in India, 
perhaps because designed in what might be called 
the local style — the Mogul. Near by in a little 
garden enclosed by clipped hedges was a bronze 
statue of Lord Laurence offering the choice of 
government by pen or sword to the passer by. 
It had some dramatic expression, though the choice 
of a momentary attitude in a portrait statue is 
perhaps open to criticism. 

We visited the museum, where Mr Percy Brown 
has succeeded Mr Kipling as director. Here is a 
most interesting collection of typical native textiles, 
including the raised wax designs gilded, silvered, 
and lacquered on grounds of different coloured 
cloths, an art which is still practised in the district 
with success, traditional designs of flowers and birds 
being repeated in a very skilful and effective way, 
and applied to the adornment of portieres, covers, 
etc. There were also good collections of native 
jewellery and enamels. Champleve enamel, such 
as is done at Lucknow, was illustrated by 



i8o INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

specimens In different stages from the commence- 
ment to the finish, side by side with cloissone 
(Japanese) illustrated in the same complete way, 
as well as complete models showing native in- 
dustries and handicrafts in operation ; interesting 
old Hindu herbals and manuscripts on vellum 
with characteristic miniatures ; drawings of local 
palaces and gardens in plan, elevation and bird's- 
eye perspective. 

There was a very notable collection of Greco- 
Buddhist sculptures, which were extremely interest- 
ing and unusual. 

Very little wood-carving, curiously enough, 
except modern examples in screens and furniture, 
the work of the Art School, exhibited in a separate 
room. The city of Lahore being so rich in 
carved wood-work it was less necessary to have it 
in the museum, and, of course, much better to see 
it in sittL. The modern way of selling the spoils 
of old buildings to private collections or to museums 
is carried on in Europe to an alarming extent, so 
that one begins to fear, in view of the rapid destruc- 
tion of ancient houses now going on, whether there 
will soon be left any genuine bits of antiquity in 
this commercial world. It is better of course that 
relics of ancient art should find a haven in a public 
museum than that it should perish altogether, _ but 
any destruction or removal for the express purpose 
of transportation to a museum should be deprecated. 

On the whole the Lahore museum was a well- 
chosen and arranged museum, judiciously limited 
to Indian art, and it was interesting to see the 
groups of natives — men, women, and children — 



AMTIITZAR AND LAHORE i8i 

apparently scanning the different objects with the 
greatest interest and with much animated conversa- 
tion among themselves. One afternoon we drove 
to the Waza Khan Mosque, and I made the sketch 
reproduced here of the entrance to the mosque 
from the carriage. The crowd was curious, but 
not nearly so troublesome as elsewhere, and our 
conductor, or running footman, kept them off 
pretty well. The square had large pools of mud 
in it here and there after recent rains. Zebus 
were straying about, or lying down. Fruit and 
good stalls occupied other parts of the ground, 
and ox-carts deposited loads of wood. Men sat in 
groups in the porch of the mosque, or on the 
steps, from which boys flew their little diamond- 
shaped paper kites. The mysterious-looking 
white figures of the Mohammedan women wandered 
about like substantial ghosts. We saw a pretty 
little gazelle at one of the stalls, perfectly tame, and 
a great pet of the native who owned it. 

The Cashmere travelling merchants, who 
display their tempting wares at all the hotels, 
spread out their stuffs in profusion — Bokhara 
embroideries, Persian covers, kincobs, turbans, 
and portieres of black, red, or green grounds, 
effectively decorated with designs in the raised 
wax, such as we saw in the museum — and used all 
their persuasive arts to effect sales. 

We did not stay long enough in Lahore to see 
much of the Society there, but before leaving we 
had a visit from the Princess Duleep Singh and 
her sister, who, hearing from friends at Amritzar 
that we were there, came to see us at the hotel. 



l82 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



The princess was dressed as a Parsee lady in 
beautiful classical draperies, white with embroidered 
borders, and she drove herself in a dog-cart, but 
the sister was in European dress. The princess 




THE MERCHANTS OF KASHMIR 



recalled the circumstance of my having made a 
little sketch in her brother the prince's cottage on 
the Norfolk coast, which had been desio^ned for him 
by Mr Detmar Blow, which we visited when staying 
in the neighbourhood. 

We left Lahore the mid-day Lucknow Mail, 
after a long wait, the platform covered with 
picturesque groups of squatting natives. We 








I.AHORE-THIC MOSQUE OF WAZA KHAN 



AMRITZAR AND LAHORE 183 

eventually shared a compartment, as far as 
Umballa, with an English official, his German 
wife and a little girl. As far as Umballa on 
this line, coming north, we had already journeyed. 
The chief incident after leaving Lahore was the 
catching fire of one of the boxes of one of the 
carriages of our train, which caused the passengers 
hastily to leave it, and crowd into other parts of the 
train, when it was stopped and the burning carriage 
taken off at a small station just before Amritzar. 

At Umballa, the dining station, which we reached 
when it was dark, some said we had to change, 
others said not. This was puzzling. One official 
with more authority than the others said emphati- 
cally **no," at last. So, having just time, we 
scurried across the bridge to the refreshment room 
with light hearts and sharp appetites, snatched a 
hasty meal and hurried back to find Moonsawmy, 
who acted as courier and took chargfe of the tickets, 
in some difficulty with the officials about the tickets. 
One official (the stationmaster) came up, and then 
said we ought to have changed into the train which 
was just at that moment steaming out of the 
station, excusing his mistake by saying that he had 
not till then seen our tickets, fussily ordering a 
humble Hindu clerk to take the numbers. 

After this we got into our compartment again 
and settled ourselves for a sleep, as we were 
not due at Lucknow until next morning. During 
the night we were constantly disturbed by 
people opening the carriage door and peering 
in^ — no doubt in search of lower berths, which 
we occupied. At one place a Eurasian got in 



1 84 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

with a quantity of baggage, and got out again 
only a few stations off. On leaving, perceiving he 
had disturbed us he said he was " sorry for the 
trouble," 

At Barielly another man (English) got in with 
his traps and rugs and settled himself to sleep 
on the middle berth — which in some carriages 
economises space between the two side ones — 
though he was at first a little taken aback at seeing 
that one of us was a lady. However, he turned 
out to be a very agreeable companion afterwards, 
and we got quite friendly as the train the next morn- 
ing approached Lucknow, we having previously 
decided not to stop at Cawnpore. 



CHAPTER XI 

LUCKNOW 

ARRIVING at Lucknow in due course we 
parted with our fellow traveller, who was 
met by the military chaplain, and we did not see 
him again. The chaplain kindly gave us some 
information, and said that the hotel we were bound 
for was reputed to be " the best in India." This was 
good hearing, and we found it quite borne out by 
our experience of Wurtzler's, where we presently 
found ourselves in comfortable rooms, bungalow- 
like, opening on to a verandah. The hotel had 
formerly been a palace, and was rather a handsome 
building in its way, with a round-arched arcaded 
front, long and low, with a pleasant enclosure of 
trees and flower garden. 

There was " a little rift within the lute," how- 
ever, which rather marred the first moments of our 
arrival at Lucknow, my wife having unfortunately 
got a little bit of grit in her eye from the engine 
while in the train. There was nothing for it but 
to drive to the hospital the first thing after break- 
fast. Luckily we caught the chief surgeon (Col. 
Anderson) just as he was attending to some native 
cases in waiting. He at once took us to the 
" operating room," which sounded rather fearsome, 
and was indeed a severe place with a polished 



1 86 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



marble floor, a case of surgical instruments and an 
operating table being the only furniture visible. 
The poor eye-patient had to extend herself on the 



(Z.DO'H I 



*li^tv*VVvo4l 




m 



'h 



PH-Ik A 




IN HOSPITAL, LUCKNOW. THE OPERATING TABLE (pATIENT 
HAD A BIT OF GRIT IN HER EYE AFTER A TRAIN JOURNEY) — 
SIXTEEN RUPEES WERE EXTRACTED ! 



table, while the Colonel very deftly found and quickly 
removed a tiny black speck which had caused all 
the trouble — working up right under the upper lid 
of the eye. He put some cocaine into the eye first 
of all, and afterwards applied a little lint and lotion. 
The relief must have been worth anything — it might 
have been described as a lesser Relief of Lucknow ! 



LUCKNOW 



187 



The next example of human skill or sleight of 
hand we witnessed was in the juggling, not the 
surgical, profession. It was a native conjurer who, 
under the arcade of the hotel, showed us the famous 
maneo tree trick. As additional attractions, or a 




JUGGLERS AT LUCKNOW — THE MANGO TREE TRICK 



sort of side-show, he had a large cobra in a round 
box, which, when the lid was off, reared its head 
all alive and hissing, and ready for a performance 
with a well-to-do mongoose, which was held in 
readiness by a cord tied tightly round its neck, 
which is apparently the only way in which to secure 
a mongoose. 

The man commenced his performance by placing 
a monkey's skull on the pavement, and sticking a 



1 88 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

little china doll up in front of it. Then he produced 
a very dry-looking mango seed about the size of a 
small potato, and this he planted carefully in an 
ordinary earthen flower-pot, covering the seed with 
soil, and then watering it, muttering some unknown 
words over it. He then put it under a cloth raised 
tentwise by a stick, to let it grow, as he said, while 
he went on with a number of small but very skilful 
conjuring tricks with cards, coins, marbles, ring 
and handkerchief, etc., any of which he offered to 
teach. Presently he lifted the cloth and showed 
the mango tree sending up a shoot of fresh green, 
and apparently growing vigorously. Then he 
covered it up again and performed some more 
tricks, after which he again uncovered the mango, 
which now showed a stem and bunch of leaves at 
the top like a miniature tree. Finally, after another 
interval of a few minutes juggling and conjuring, 
he lifted the cloth again, and, holding the pot in 
one hand, he pulled up the little mango tree with 
the other, showing it had stem, roots, and all. The 
man had an assistant, but he only played a very 
subordinate part, handing the conjurer the various 
things he wanted from time to time, holding the 
mongoose, but not performing in any way. These 
wonders were to be seen for the fee of three rupees. 
The conjurer was very proud of his "chits" which 
he showed, and among the signatures were those 
of " Castlereagh " and *' Wenlock " ; and he asked 
for a written testimonial in his book. 

At Lucknow we had an introduction to the Chief 
Commissioner, Mr Ross Scott, who received us 
very cordially at his charming house, and offered to 



LUCKNOAV 189 

do anything for us. Among other kindnesses he 
sent my wife (whose heahh had suffered from the 
climate everywhere in India) a supply of excellent 
milk from his own cows during her stay, which 
proved of immense benefit. At his house we met 
Mrs Dowden and her daughter, who kindly under- 
took to show us over the ruins of the Residency 
which were quite close by. The building stands, 
or what remains of it after the bombardment it 
sustained during the terrible days of "the Mutiny," 
amid pleasant lawns and fine trees, and creepers 
cover the ruins. In one of the rooms is a good 
model of the Residency as it was in 1857 in the 
midst of the native city on a rising ground, but 
thickly surrounded by the houses and mosques, from 
which guns and mortars were trained on to it. 
These were shown planted on flat roofs or in 
courtyards, wherever there was vantage ground. 
Nothing but a few shapeless ruins remain here- 
abouts now of the old native city, which has since 
been curtailed and cut in two by a broad road for the 
rapid movement of troops. However savage and 
cruel the sepoys may have been, the British 
reprisals were certainly severe. They seemed to 
have practically "wiped out" old Lucknow after- 
wards. We were shown a building — the Sikander 
Bagh — a high-walled enclosure, once a fair rose- 
garden, which was taken by Colin Campbell, and 
where 2000 rebels were bayoneted without mercy 
by the British troops. A young English officer, 
speaking professionally, perhaps, we met at a 
friend's house, said that Sikander Bas^h eave him 
more satisfaction than any other memorial of the 



V 



I90 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

mutiny. He positively "gloated over it," and 
intended to go there again and " gloat." It is said 
even that British soldiers bayoneted even the sick 
and wounded Hindu soldiers in the hospitals who 
begged to be shot instead ! 

The whole place is overshadowed by memories 
of that awful period. Nothing can impair the 
courage and endurance of the heroic defenders of 
the Residency ; but it is now, I believe, generally 
admitted that the outbreak was not without its 
causes, and that the government of the day did not /' 
act judiciously, to say the least. It is commonly 1 
called " The Mutiny," but it was really an insurrec- 
tion, which must from various causes have been 
smouldering for some time before it burst into 
flame. The "greased cartridges" were only the 
last straw. There seems to have been much dis- 
content. Many sepoys, too, had been disbanded. 
The British annexation, the deposition and deporta- 
tion of the reigning King of Oudh and the confisca- 
tion of his revenues, must all be considered as 
provocative causes ; and it is a question whether at 
any time British rule has made itself loved in India, \ 
or the British residents have ever really understood 
the Indian people. Native feeling must have been 
generally ignored. 

It was a formidable revolt, accompanied, no 
doubt, by explosions of race hatred and by terrible 
cruelties, but there was savagery on both sides— a 
desperate attempt to regain possession of their own 
country and its government on the part of the 
princes and people. 

The question remains, with all the official 



LUCKNOW 191 

solicitude of the British government for the welfare 

of the natives, all the railways, engineering, and ^yC^y^J 

irrigation works, are they really better off than they 

were under native rule ? 

Are they not, though under British administra- 
tion, more heavily taxed than they were under the 
native kings ? Mr William Digby, CLE., who had 
long personal and official experience in India, 
brings a formidable array of facts and statistics 
(from official sources, too), in his " Prosperous 
British India," in support of the view that they 
are, and, moreover, that the ryot — the tiller of the 
soil — is gradually becoming poorer under our rule. 

To a passing observer, the Hindus — nay, the 
people of India, either Hindus or Mohammedans — 
can never be Europeanised. There is a great gulf 
between the East and the West. After all these 
years of British occupation and administration, the 
two races live entirely apart and separate. In 
religion, manners, and customs, and sentiment, they 
are fundamentally different, opposed, one might 
say. 

The British remain a transitory garrison of 
military and civil administrative aliens, in the midst 
of vast populations, rooted in the traditions, reli- 
gious beliefs and observances of untold centuries, 
during which they have carried on the same mode 
of life, and who seem neither to seek or to desire 
chang-e. 

The mere struggle to live must occupy the 
energies of the vast majority, but among the more 
educated and leisured classes of natives there is a 
growing feeling of what we should call nationalism 



192 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

in Europe, though it may be more strictly racial 
than national. It is difficult, however, to see how 
anything like a universal movement over the whole 
peninsula could arise, considering the differences of 
caste, race and religion, or the wide differences 
which separate Hindus and Mohammedans. Some, 
however, rather think that political change may be 
forced by bankruptcy, considering the poverty of 
the people and the limits of taxation being reached. 

We were shown, at the Residency, the room 
where Sir Henry Laurence was struck with the 
shell, the holes its explosion made in the wall, his 
grave also, and many other memorials which have 
a profound interest for the English visitors. Old 
rust-eaten, muzzle-loading muskets, sabres, and 
shot and shell, with which the Residency was 
peppered, were collected in a group in one of the 
rooms, and the place, as far as possible, has been 
made an historical museum of the period of the 
siege. 

Our friends introduced us at the Chatter Manzel, 
formerly a palace of the kings of Oudh, but now 
used as an English club. The rooms were of 
spacious and good proportions — long in comparison 
with their width. Proportion, in fact, is the prin- 
cipal notable quality of the local architecture at 
Lucknow, the details being comparatively common- 
place after the beautiful inventive detail and decora- 
tion of the Mogul architects at Delhi and Agra, 
the ornamentation being mostly mere repetitions. 
After the marble inlay of the Taj Mahal and the 
Diwan-ud-Daulat, and Sikandra, or the rrch 
arabesques of the Zenana rooms at Amber, the 



LUCKNOW 193 

white and yellow wash and the rather coarse 
plaster work of the palaces and pavilions of Luck- 
now look, comparatively speaking, cheap. The 
stuccoed domes of the mosques miss the splendour 
of the gold and ivory-like marble seen elsewhere. 
Even the Jama Musjid, fine in scale as it is, lacks 
the charm of colour. There was a smaller mosque 
near the old stone bridge, however, which stood 
out against the deep-blue sky in dazzling whiteness, 
but this only showed how beautiful plain whitewash 
appears illuminated by the Indian sun — pearly with 
delicate reflections and warm shadows. 

The lambara had a beautifully-proportioned 
court, with steps up to the pavilion, the symmetry 
of the spacing being rather pleasantly broken by 
the mosque on one side being placed at a different 
angle in order to point to the direction of Mecca, 
as all Mohammedan mosques must do. 

Inside the pavilion, under canopies of heavy 
embroidery in gold and silver, supported by chased 
silver poles, were the tombs of one of the kings and 
his zenana. On the walls were mirrors which 
reminded us of our English empire-period framed 
mantle-glasses. Some of these had curious tempera 
paintings inserted in their frames of native birds 
and trees, and there were other Indian paintings, 
one showing General or Captain Martin — the 
French adventurer who founded the Martiniere at 
Lucknow in the early nineteenth century — in a 
blue coat and gold lace and white nankeen trousers, 
like a naval officer of that period, conferring with 
the King of Oudh and his court. An image of 
a winged horse (a Buddhist symbol) strikingly 



194 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

resembled the Assyrian type of winged man- 
headed creatures, the treatment being remarkably 
similar. The crowned head, with long, black, 
curled locks, and formal, rather small, wings, with 
each feather expressed. There was an umbrella 
attached, which moved to and fro over the head of 
the figure by clock-work. 

We were interested to see in the Daulat Khan 
— a sort of gallery up a steep flight of steps — a 
series of full-length portraits of the kings of Oudh 
in their robes, painted by English artists. Most of 
these were signed by my friend T. Erat Harrison, 
1882-4, and I recalled the fact of having seen him 
at work on one of them about that time. 

An English lady, Mrs Dowden (wife of Colonel 
Dowden), was kind enough to conduct us through 
Lucknow and its wonders, and she proved an 
excellent cicerone, and waved off all unnecessary 
attentions from caretakers and their hangers-on 
with the decisive air of a resident. 

We passed a hideous clock tower — one of many 
in India — put up by some modern architect (as a 
Jubilee memorial, I think). It is astonishing what 
monstrosities in clock towers have been perpetrated 
by modern architects in India. 

Finally, we got to the gate of the old city of 
Lucknow, by which we entered the principal street 
of the bazaar. There were many interesting native 
shops. At one I noticed some blocks of patterns 
for printing by hand on cotton. They were cut in 
some hard wood. The handicraft, too, was still 
carried on here. There were many pretty bead 
necklaces, tassels, and quaint toys. We visited. 



LUCKNOW 



195 



up a steep narrow staircase, a muslin and jewel mer- 
chant's store. He showed some charming Indian 




BETTER LUCK AT LUCKNOW — THROUGH THE CHOWK 
ON AN ELEPHANT 



muslins spangled with silver spots and patterns. 
He also had one or two pieces of old Lucknow 
enamel not ordinarily seen in the bazaars now. 



196 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

We visited another friend who had been spend- 
ing the winter at Lucknow — Mrs JopUng-Rowe, 
the well-known artist, whose son is a Magistrate 
here, dining with them at their charming bungalow 
one evening. Mr Commissioner Jopling very 
courteously placed elephants at our disposal on 
which to ride through the chowk. 

An irrigation well near the hotel interested me, 
and I made a sketch of it in a chequered shade. 
The yoke of oxen and two natives at work hauling 
up the water for the garden in a leather bucket. 
While thus engaged another friend travelling in 
the East came up, so that as regards friends we 
were quite in luck's way at Lucknow. 

After this it was time to go and meet the 
elephants our friends had ordered at the chowk. 
Mrs Jopling-Rowe took us in her carriage through 
Wentworth Park, and past the palaces to the gate 
of the city, where we found two fine elephants in 
waiting. My wife and I mounted one of them by 
the usual ladder, the animal kneeling. A young 
officer who was of the party, however, showed us 
another way. He got a leg up by means of the 
trunk, and so over the elephant's head on to his 
back. We then processed through the bazaar (the 
chowk), preceded by a native policeman, in khaki 
with a scarlet turban, to clear the way, and two 
more behind. The elephants seemed to quite fill 
up the narrow street, so that there was danger of 
a block when we met an ox-cart. A very com- 
prehensive view is to be had from an elephant's 
back, as one can see not only a long way ahead, 
but well into the shops where the people are at 



LUCKNOW 197 

work, and also command the balconies and roofs, 
where there were often interesting groups. 

We threaded our way through the chowk, passing 
at its end under one of the old arched gateways 
and along a narrower street, which led us out into 
the broad military road, which the British, after 
the revolt, ruthlessly cut right through the old city, 
uglifying it, of course. There is a wonderful 
variety and richness, again, here, in the old house- 
fronts with arcaded balconies and doorways of 
carved wood. The patterns, chiefly running 
borders, treated very fancifully and delicately. 
The native houses were not so high as in Lahore, 
but the carving might compare with the same sort 
of work there in detail. 

We lunched at the charming abode of another 
English official and his wife (Mr and Mrs Saunders), 
who were very pleasant and hospitable. The lady 
had considerable taste in furniture and decoration, 
and her rooms showed the influence of white and 
green, and looked cool and agreeable in a light key. 

Afterwards we drove to see the celebrated 
Martiniere, the young officer accompanying us. 
The Martiniere is the fantastic palace built by 
the French General or Captain Martin, before 
mentioned, and is a curious conglomerate sort of 
scenic design of late Italo-French Renaissance 
character, reminding one rather of I sola Bella, semi- 
classical figures being perched on every pinnacle 
and balustrade, and there were two grotesque lions, 
doing duty as supporters or consoles, with mouths 
so open that the sky could be seen through them. 
The building towered high in several stories in 



198 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

the centre, and spread out wide into two curved 
long and low wings of one story, opening on to 
broad terraces and steps leading to a small lake, 
from the middle of which rose a fluted column. 
The general's heart is said to be buried beneath 
this. The Martiniere was intended by him to be 
a college for boys. He founded another at Cal- 
cutta, and another in his native town — Lyons — in 
France. Martin seems to have had a curious, 
eventful history, beginning as a French prisoner, 
under the British, afterwards entering the British 
army and becoming a captain, when he took service 
under the Nawab of Oudh and became pfeneral of 
his army, finally accumulating by some means a 
large fortune, which he spent on this building and 
in foundinor the schools which bear his name. 

We passed another house ruined at the time of 
" the Mutiny," whence the women and children 
were removed to from the Residency, and where 
Lieutenant Paul is buried. 

Mr Ross Scott entertained us with a distinguished 
company to dinner at his hospitable house before 
we left Lucknow. One English colonel of the 
party with whom I had a conversation had recently 
returned from Burmah, and had brought back some 
fine silk embroidered robes, some china bowls, and 
caps. The latter were of soft felt, and could be 
worn either with the edge turned down or up, 
forming a brim. 

The colonel had lived some time in Burmah and 
had seen service there, having been through the 
British campaign against the " Dacoits." He said 
that the Dacoits were largely composed of men of 



LUCKNOW 199 

the disbanded native army (for which I suppose 
our Government were responsible), and they roamed 
about the country preying on the people, plunder- 
ing and sometimes murdering them. The Burmese 
people, he said, only wanted to be left alone in 
peace (like most people). He had made many 
friends among them, as he knew the language and 
had lived amongst them at that time. On revisiting 
the country and finding things under British con- 
trol and administration, he found most of his Bur- 
mese native friends in prison. They were there, 
he said, merely for breaking some official regulation 
which probably they did not in the least under- 
stand. The natives complained to him that the 
English officials lived aloof from them, and were 
not friendly and sympathetic as he (the Colonel) 
had been, and they never got any forwarder. 



CHAPTER XII 

BENARES 

OUR next destination was Benares. I had for 
long had the feeling, from the descriptions 
one had read and the photographs one had seen 
of this wonderful place, that it would sum up and 
centralise, as it were, to the eye the whole life of 
the Indian people, while it would also be a symbol 
of their faith to the mind. 

It was, therefore, with unusual anticipations that 
we turned our faces thither, and on the 21st of 
January took the early morning train from Lucknow 
to the great focus of Hindu worship on the sacred 
Ganores. The kind commissioner's native ser- 
vant, in scarlet, awaited us at the station with a 
parting gift and a note of introduction to the 
Maharajah of Benares. 

The train passed through a richer and more 
fruitful country than usual, but level, plain all the 
way, reaching Benares Cantonment about two 
o'clock. We drove to Clark's hotel, which has a 
pretty portico full of palms, and a splendid orange 
creeper, then in full flower, hung over the usual 
bungalow annexe. The house was quiet, and 
had a semi-private aspect, more like a country 
bungalow. 

Finding the Maharajah's palace was some five 



BENARES 20 1 

or six miles off and on the other side of the river, 
we were advised to leave our letter at the Guest 
House with our cards. The Guest House was 
quite near by. Continuing our drive through the 
bazaar we thought the main street wider than 
most of the native cities, but the bazaars did not 
look so busy, and many shops were vacant. Bal- 
conies, the roofs of which were supported on arcades 
of slender columns with Hindu caps, were of a differ- 
ent type to those hitherto seen. In the European 
quarter there were poorly - designed, would-be 
Gothic British buildings, and mission churches 
of the usual bald type. There was a Queen's 
Park with the commonplace iron railing and low 
stone parapet enclosing it, these innovations, 
as usual, quite spoiling the surroundings of a 
native city. 

The next morning we had a visit from the Maha- 
rajah's private secretary, who invited us to drive 
in the afternoon to visit the Buddhish topes and 
sculptures at Sarnath about five miles from Benares. 
An American lady we had previously met was to 
be of the party, and she was staying at the Guest 
House, and at the appointed hour the Maharajah's 
carriage, with a coachman in a green and gold 
turban and scarlet tunic, and two active young 
Hindus, similarly dressed, acted as running footmen 
to clear the way, when not at their posts standing 
at the back of the carriage. We called at the Guest 
House for our American friend. It was a more 
palatial building than the one at Gwalior, standing 
in a small park with outer gates and a drive. The 
house was in the classic style — a white building 



202 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



with flat roof and columned portico. In the 
large hall on the g-round floor there was a 
small coloured statuette of the Maharajah on 




THE MAHARAJAH PLACES HIS CARRIAGE AT OUR DISPOSAL 



horseback, photographs and portraits upon the 
walls, including English miniatures of an English 
officer and his ladies of the early nineteenth 
century, and some engravings of portraits of 
Queen Caroline. A stuffed lioness was lying 
on a side-board. 

The road to Sarnath lay through avenues of fine 
trees a great part of the way, chiefly mangoes, 



BENARES 203 

banyans, acacias, and tamarinds. The young 
trees planted to fill the gaps were protected by 
circular fences, sometimes topped by prickly pears. 
Sometimes the circular fence was made of bricks, 
an aperture being left between every alternate 
brick. 

At Sarnath we saw the results of recent ex- 
cavations. There was a wonderful pillar made 
out of a single piece of marble, but fractured in 
digging it out. One part stood upright in the 
earth, the other lay horizontally. The top or cap 
was placed under an awning near by. It was 
formed of four lions facing outwards, their heads, 
chests, and fore limbs being alone visible, their 
claws resting on the rim of a circular fillet, on which 
was sculptured in low relief a horse, an elephant, a 
lion, and a bull, each animal being placed between 
a wheel of a solar character, each wheel having 
twenty-four spokes. Below this fillet was a curved 
drooping fringe of leaves such as are characteristic 
in Persian columns as well as Hindu. The marble 
of which the column and the sculptures were made 
was of a peculiar greyish almost of a flesh colour, 
with small spots. Both the column and the sculp- 
tures were very highly polished, and the treatment 
of the lions was remarkably Greek in character with 
perhaps a touch of Persian or even Assyrian for- 
malism in the treatment of the heads and manes 
of the lions. The animals in relief, between 
the wheels, too, were remarkably free, spirited, and 
well modelled. 

There were the remains of an ancient Buddhist 
temple near. In what was probably the inner 



204 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

shrine was a sculptured standing figure of Buddha, 
about two-thirds life size, in alto relievo. The 
figure was represented in a long robe, the limbs 
being boldly expressed through the drapery, which 
hung broadly and smoothly over them, without 
folds, except at the sides, which were treated in 
the rather formal spiral manner of early Greek 
work. 

The American lady remarked on seeing this 
figure that " The gentleman seems to have put his 
legs through his clothes." 

The figure was framed in a border of astralagus, 
cut in low relief, having a running escalloped 
border outside it and stepped mouldings. The 
doorway to this shrine, too, had a richly carved 
borderingf. 

There were many most interesting fragments 
collected together in and around a building near. 
In the court was a large circular carved stone. 
This was called Buddha's umbrella, and its original 
position was over the head of a large figure of the 
saint, sculptured in the round, close by. The 
design of the umbrella, a lotus flower, the flower 
of life, the petals radiating from the centre, and 
enclosing this were a series of concentric rings of 
pattern ; the first consisted of rosettes, or smaller 
lotus flowers, alternating with grotesque lions, 
winged horses, elephants, camels, and bulls ; the 
next showed the anthemion, doubled or reversed, 
alternating with the fylfot or gammadion rf, and 
another form frequent in early Greek pattern (as 
well as Chinese) the geometric four-petalled flower. 
There were numerous small figures of Buddha here, 



BENARES 205 

treated in a similar way to the one first mentioned, 
as well as other sculptures of a Hindu type, 
resembling those at Ellora. 

There we saw the great Tope (called the 
Dhamek). This stood on rather higher ground, 
and was apparently built of rubble, which was ex- 
posed at the top, but the sides were covered with 
fine bands of carved ornament in stone, carried to 
a considerable height, and consisting of a frieze 
of bold scroll work of a Greek character, alternating 
with bands of a kind of Chinese-like diagonal diaper, 
divided by plain belts of stone. At intervals these 
bands were intersected by fiat dome-shaped forms 
slightly projecting beyond the bands, and in these 
were recesses intended, no doubt, originally to 
contain seated figures of Buddha. These flat dome- 
shaped forms, connected by bands, suggested a 
palisade, which may have been the original 
way of enclosing and protecting these topes 
or tombs ; and they may also have been the 
early form or prototype of the curious clustered 
dome-shaped pinnacles which are multiplied to 
form the spires of Jain temples so often seen 
in India. 

Sarnath is the place where Buddha began to 
preach, and the great tope is supposed to mark the 
spot where his first sermon was delivered. The 
excavations of General Cunningham here disclose 
the fragments of a great city which probably stood 
here about 2000 years ago. 

Returning to Benares from this intensely interest- 
ing spot, we dined at the Guest House with our 
American friend. The rooms were luxuriously 



2o6 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

upholstered and furnished from Europe, and were 
occupied by the Prince and Princess of Wales when 
they were here in 1905. The dinner was excel- 
lently cooked and served by native attendants, with 
the choicest wines and liquors. 

There were some lovely old Indian miniatures on 
vellum framed and hanging on the wall of one of 
the salons, representing various scenes in the life 
of a Maharajah — a cock-fight, polo, reception of a 
foreign embassy (in Dutch seventeenth century 
costume), and other subjects, each full of charming 
details of architecture, dress and decoration. Be- 
sides these there were the usual official photographic 
groups, showing English officers, princes, and 
governor-generals grouped around the Maharajah 
— In one the Czar of Russia appeared. Indian 
carpets were on the floor, and English sporting 
prints on the walls of the dining-room. 

The next day, January 23rd, His Highness's 
secretary had arranged to send a carriage for us 
quite early (about 7 a.m.), to take us to see the 
ghats. When we reached the river side, which 
is a considerable drive from the Guest House, 
we found a beautiful state barge awaiting us. 
It was shaped and painted like a peacock, 
and had a little pavilion in the centre. In 
this lovely vessel we embarked, and glided 
slowly down the river with the stream, guided 
by the scarlet-jacketed oarsmen, with their long 
bamboo handled oars, and a broad steering paddle 
at the stern. 

The spectacle of Benares from a boat on the 
Ganges is perhaps the most extraordinary sight in 



BENARES 



207 



all India. At every ghat or opening to the river, 
down the great flights of steps, a throng of natives 
in all the colours of the rainbow press to the water's 




BENARES : VIEWING THE GHATS FROM THE MAHARAJAH S 
PEACOCK BOAT 



edge. Some plunge in, some approach timidly, 
and very gradually submerge themselves. Their 
brown skins shining in the water. The men always 
have some sort of waist cloth on, but the women 
go in in their garments, or, at least, clad to their 
waists. All ages are there — it recalled the mediaeval 



2o8 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

allegories of the Fountain of Youth. One does 
not often see infants dipped, though they are, 
occasionally, by their parents, and object to 
the water in the same natural and vioforous 
manner as European babies are apt to do at 
their baptism. 

Old tottering women and men may be seen, as 
well as the young, strong and vigorous, all earnestly 
washing, or performing strange genuflexions with 
the most determined devotion. Characteristic 
features of this wonderful scene are the large 
matting umbrellas of the priests, who sit on small 
platforms of bamboo raised on the steps. These 
expect fees to be paid them by those who come to 
bathe at the ghats. Rows of snake charmers greet 
the traveller on landing at the ghats, who turn 
hissing cobras out of circular boxes and hold them 
aloft or twine them round their necks, or perhaps, 
as an extra attraction, empty out a swarm of 
scorpions to catch the eye of the stranger, all 
eager to perform the marvels of their art on 
the slightest encouragement — and a few rupees. 
Sacred zebu bulls wander about and often lie on 
the steps. 

It seems strange that people should lave and drink 
of the water, which is fouled one would suppose by 
all sorts of impurities at the margin. Washing of 
clothes goes on everywhere, decayed flowers float 
along, even bodies of drowned dogs are seen 
occasionally. It must have been at Benares that 
^sop's fable of the two pots was born, for there the 
earthen and brazen vessels might quite possibly 
float down the stream together. Pots are scoured 



BENAKES 



209 



on the steps, and at the Burning Ghat they pour the 
ashes of the dead into the river. 

At the Burning Ghat they pile up logs of wood to 




WE SEE SNAKES AT BENARES 



form the pyre, and the white turbaned dark figures, 
with nothing on but waist cloths, are kept busy at 
their ghastly work. Some of the bodies are brought 
down with flowers and chanting : others lie there 
with no following or ceremony : some are swathed in 
red or white cloth like mummies, others as they were 
born are lifted on to the piles of logs, which being 
set alight, soon reduce all to the same condition. 



2IO INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Some of the bodies are carefully dipped in the 
Ganges before being burned, and are often left at 
the water's edge while the pyre is being prepared. 
Wood was placed over as well as under the bodies, 
and a torch was put to the mouth. Other bodies, 
again, are taken out in boats unburned and appar- 
ently dressed and seated in chairs, and suddenly in 
mid-stream are toppled over into the water. We 
saw an old man disposed of in this way. Our 
boatman pointed him out as a specially holy person, 
and we did not realise he was a corpse. The 
bodies of infants, swathed in white, are also treated 
in this way. 

The Maharajah's secretary explained that the 
Ganges water had been analysed by European 
experts and pronounced to be the best water in the 
world, having a peculiar property of destroying the 
germs of disease. It was difficult, however, to see 
how even "the best water" could avoid getting fouled 
with such operations constantly going on ; but of 
course there is a strong stream all the time, so that 
everything must eventually be carried down to the 
sea. 

A continuous many-coloured stream of pilgrims, 
bearing huge bundles of bedding, were constantly 
moving along behind this busy life of the bathing 
ghats, ascending or descending the great flights 
of steps leading up through the various gates 
to the city. It seemed to be part of that uni- 
versal exodus we had witnessed at every railway 
station in India. It is said that representatives 
from every village in the peninsula may be found 
at Benares. 



BENARES 2 11 

Then, as a no less striking background to these 
extraordinary human groups, rise the domes of 
temples and minarets of palaces, their golden vanes 
and finials glittering against the deep blue sky. 
Windows, balconies and terraces placed high up, 
with vast walls below them. These great walls, 
which give so much distinction and breadth to the 
river front of Benares, have a practical reason, 
inasmuch as it is a necessity thus to raise the 
temple and palace floors, owing to the sudden 
rising of the Ganges in the rainy season, when 
these walls are sometimes hidden in the waters. 

The musical accompaniments of the spectacle 
consist in the weird and wandering notes which 
issue from the temples, produced by a sort of haut- 
boy, and the subdued thud of the tomtoms. I saw 
a dusky long-haired fakir stand on the steps at the 
Mahikarunika ghat and sound a long straight brass 
trumpet. 

After voyaging in the peacock boat the whole 
length of the ghats, we returned to our carriage- 
in-waiting at a convenient point from which to 
approach the Golden Temple. From the main 
street of the Bazaar we were conducted by the 
secretary down a very narrow passage crowded 
with worshippers, and then up a dark staircase to a 
terrace from which we could see the cluster of gilded 
copper domes. Afterwards in the sacred precincts 
we saw the "well of knowledge," but did not drink 
of it, having too much foreknowledge of the con- 
dition of its water. 

Our next excursion was to pay a visit to the 
Maharajah at his palace. We were conducted by 



212 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

his secretary in the carriage as before, driving to 
the river side opposite the palace some six miles 
off. On the road we stopped to see the famous 
Monkey Temple — a Hindu Temple in an arcaded 
court of the usual type. This court was full of 
monkeys — a sandy-brown coloured sort with pink 
faces, probably Macaques — not so handsome as the 
wild silver grey ones we had seen at Ahmelabad. 
They accepted offerings, but not so greedily, as 
they were evidently well fed, and dried peas lay 
about untouched. They gambolled about the 
temple at their sweet will. These monkeys are 
sacred to Vishnu, and represent Hunuman the 
monkey god. 

There was a fine tank with steps to the water's 
edge, close by the temple. Just before this we 
passed the Hindu College which Mrs Annie Besant 
has established for the higher education of native 
children of both sexes — but not a mixed school. 
This work has been liberally endowed by the 
Maharajah of Benares, who also granted the site. 
Mrs Besant is the principal, but owing to the illness 
of Colonel Alcott, she was not then there, 
being at Madras nursing the Colonel in what proved 
to be his last illness. 

Reaching the river side, a boat was in waiting to 
take us across to the palace, rowed by two Hindu 
boys — at least they started rowing, but soon we 
got into shallows, where they took to poling, and 
finally had to get out and push the boat along, 
until getting into deeper water again they rowed 
us to the palace steps. 

It was quite a high steep flight, no doubt existing 



BENARES 213 

for the same river reason as the high walls of 
Benares — to be out of the reach of the floods. 
There were numbers of natives ascending and 
descending or grouped on the steps. 

We climbed up, and entered the palace up more 
stairs, and were shown into a large reception salon, 
where much of the furniture was " under canvas," 
but there was one handsome couch displayed, 
inlaid with ivory. Presently H.H. the Maharajah 
entered, accompanied by his two chief officers, who 
spoke English well, his painter in ordinary, and 
several attendants. Chairs were placed in the 
centre of the room, around a small marble table. 
The Maharajah seated himself, and we with the 
private secretary grouped ourselves about him. 
The Maharajah was dressed in a small-patterned 
long tunic of pink brocaded with gold, a small round 
cap on his head, close fitting white trousers and 
patent leather shoes. He seemed quite merry and 
pleased to see us. I showed him my book of 
sketches, which interested him, as he said he had 
never seen drawings of the kind before. His 
painter in ordinary, to whom I was introduced, was 
also interested, and asked some questions through 
the secretary, not himself speaking English. He had 
painted the full length portraits of the Maharajahs 
which hung aloft in this salon. The Prince presently 
rose and invited us to the terrace, to which we 
passed after him, through an arcade, an attendant 
holdingf a laro^e silk umbrella over him. There was 
a very fine view from this terrace up and down the 
river. The city of Benares, with its domes and 
minarets, seen far down on the left, and the open 



214 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



plain country opposite. The secretary said that 
when the Ganges rose the city looked as if it was 
floating on the surface of the water. 

We then all returned to the salon (or Durbar Hall, 




THE MAHARAJAH S RECEPTION, DECORATING THE VISITORS 

as I ought to have called it) and took our leave, 
H.H. presenting us with a book of photographs of 
the ghats, with his own portrait, both of which he 
inscribed. Finally he placed necklaces of some 
kind of ofold or orilt tissue around the necks of the 
ladies, and one of silver-tissue around mine, and 
concluded by putting scent on our handkerchiefs 
from a handsome silver bottle. 

Before we left the palace the Maharajah's jewels 



BENARES 215 

were shown to us — wonderful strings of rubies and 
emeralds almost as big as hen's eggs. These were 
in rather worn and faded case;s of velvet, and offered 
up on rusty old tea trays — a strange mixture of 
splendour and squalor. 

The secretary then took us by carriage to see a 
Hindu Temple, covered with sculpture, standing 
clear on a raised platform ascended by a flight of 
steps, and surrounded by the usual open court. 
We saw several fine elephants waiting at a gateway, 
and afterwards visited the Maharajah's pleasant 
flower garden, prettily laid out with long centre 
tanks, and rose trellises, terraces, and pavilions. 
From here we soon reached the river side, and 
embarking in the boat again, returned in the same 
manner we had come, returning to our quarters in 
the dusk of the evening, the secretary leaving us at 
his dwelling at Benares. 

The Maharajah having placed a boat and a 
carriage at our disposal, we arranged to visit the 
ghats again the next day, especially as I was anxious 
to obtain a sketch or two of the wonderful scenes 
by the river. So driving to the steps again we 
embarked, taking Moonsawmy with us to interpret. 
I got the boatmen to stop the boat off the Mani- 
karanika Ghat,^ which is perhaps the most striking 
of all, with its red sandstone pinnacles, immense 
flights of steps and terraces. Here I worked till 
noon, when one had rather the sensation of every- 
thing curling up with the heat of the sun, including 
one's own frame ! The next morning we again re- 
turned to the river, using the Maharajah's carriage 

^ See frontispiece. 



2i6 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

and boat, which latter was not, however, the beautiful 
peacock barge of our first morning, but a very- 
substantial sort of house-boat, with plenty of space 
on the upper deck or flat roof of the house, and 
solid chairs to sit on. This time I chose the Nepal 
Temple for my subject. This temple, with its 
pagoda-like roof and shining golden finial, had a 
Chinese aspect. The temple itself was of a deep 
rich Indian red, and had a terrace in front on the 
top of a high wall close to the river, on one side 
being the entrance to the palace with two minarets. 
A mass of dark green foliage partly shaded the 
Temple on the left hand and added to the charm 
and richness of the subject — the throng of figures 
on the steps, and the boats rocking on the clear 
green water, completing the picture at the river's 
edge, alive with colour and movement. The pro- 
cession of pilgrims in an endless line, and the whole 
human drama going on just as before, and as it has 
been every day for ages. 

The moon was now again bright at nights and it 
was much warmer. We heard the jackals again 
as at Udaipur. 

We met two London friends at the hotel, 
and made some pleasant acquaintances — a young 
American who had been travelling in China 
and Japan and Java and was going on to Europe ; 
also three young Oxford men, connected with the 
Oxford Mission, I understood — one of them on his 
way to take up some official post in Japan. 

The roses at Clark's Hotel were very profuse, 
a beautiful silver bowl of Benares work full of them 
each day decorated our table. 



BENARES 217 

It was extremely quiet except for the almost 
continual cry of a bird I could not name, but which 
at first we thought was a pea-fowl. The note, 
however, was not hoarse or grating but full and 
bell-like, though very monotonous, consisting of 
two notes. We heard this bird everywhere south 
after Benares. 



CHAPTER XIII 

CALCUTTA — DARJEELING 

T 'X riTH parting compliments to the Maharajah, 
' ^ whom I ventured to present, and his 
officers, with photographs of some of my pictures, 
we left Benares for Calcutta on January 26th, 
departing by a mid-day train, belated as usual. 
This took us to Mogul Serai, where we changed 
into the Calcutta mail. At the station it was 
difficult to find a place for the soles of our feet, 
as the whole of the platform was .occupied by 
native infantry, in khaki, who were camping down 
with their arms piled and their baggage around 
them. 

The Calcutta mail was preceded by the limited 
mail, consisting chiefly of post-office vans, but 
having room for a few passengers. One of our 
friends of the Oxford party who were going on by 
it very kindly tried to get us places also, but there 
was no room left. However, the other mail 
followed very quickly, in which we found plenty of 
room, our only fellow-traveller being an American. 

We had, before reaching Mogul Serai, obtained 
a farewell glimpse of Benares as we crossed the 
iron bridge over the Ganges, below the city, and 
saw the slender minarets of the Aurangzer Mosque, 
and the smoke of the Burning Ghat. The country 



CALCUTTA— DARJEELING 219 

for some distance was richer and more fruitful than 
usual, and well clad with trees, among which were 
many fine cocoa palms, their smooth, slender stems 
having a steely blue effect against the deep green 
foliage of mangoes and acacias. 

The scenery grew tamer afterwards, and generally 
flat, with occasional mud-walled and thatch-roofed 
villages huddled together. 

After passing as bad a night as might be expected 
in the train, we got into Calcutta about six in the 
morning at the Howrah station. 

After some difficulty in getting a tickorgary — 
the Indian equivalent for a "four-wheeler" — we 
had rather a long drive to the Grand Hotel, cross- 
ing the river by a bridge just outside the station, 
where there was a bathing ghat, gaily populous at 
that hour, the bathing operations being followed by 
breakfast on the steps or in the pavilions on the 
terrace behind. 

The streets of Calcutta looked rather dingy and 
neglected. The hotel was vast but gloomy, and 
the prices high ; but a bath and a rest after the 
long railway journey were very welcome, and we 
were glad to get our letters. We found the tem- 
perature much warmer, however, and more like 
Bombay. 

The Minto Fete — a sort of bazaar and military 
tournament combined — absorbed a great deal of 
attention among the residents. This occupied a 
large enclosure on the Esplanade, under canvas. 
The familiar posters used for the Military Tourna- 
ment in London met the eye on all sides, with gay 
fluttering bunting strung across the streets as it 



220 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



appeared the Amir was expected here too, though 
his visit was to be considered "private." 

One of our introductions here was to Miss 
Sorabji, a Parsee lady of much influence, and a 




THE SOOTHSAYER AT CALCUTTA — (OR PALMISTRY UNDER 
THE palms) 



most interesting personaHty, well known and 
beloved by a large circle of English friends. She 
had a charming house, in a garden of palms, in 
Carnac Street. We found her entertaining a party 
of fashionable ladies at afternoon tea, on a shady 
lawn in front of her house. In the midst of the 
group, squatting on the grass, was a soothsayer and 



C ALCUTT A— D ARJEELING 2 2 1 

palmist — a Hindu "wise man," robed in white, 
but without any turban. He had some oblong- 
shaped pages out of an ancient book of palmistry, 
and some curious phrenological-looking diagrams 
lying on the grass in front of him, and these he 
appeared to be consulting from time to time, while 
with great deliberation he examined the hands of 
the ladies, who gazed at him quite anxiously, as if 
he were really an inspired diviner of their lives. 
This man was supposed to be gifted with very 
special powers, and seemed to be taken quite 
seriously, but as far as we could gather, he was 
only mentioning the usual range of probable or not 
impossible events which might happen in the 
course of any life, though, no doubt, more or less 
adapted to the circumstances and character of the 
lady before him, as far as he could guess it, and 
calculated to fit individual cases. He certainly 
looked wily and cunning enough for anything, as he 
moved his finger mysteriously over the charts, or 
pretended to count or reckon something while 
keeping the lady's left hand open before him. 
A curious scene altogether, with the afternoon tea- 
table, and the ordinary chatter going on. 

There was an Industrial Exhibition open on 
some open ground near a large, yellow-washed, 
eighteenth century style of church. It combined 
a switchback railway, and some of the popular 
attractions of Earl's Court, with an interesting- show 
of hand-weaving in linens, silks, and carpets, with 
dyeing, printing, and other industries, the exhibits 
being those of societies or firms. In some cases 
the work of various schools of Art were shown, as 



222 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

that of the Maharajah's, at Jaipur, chiefly metal 
work and enameHing. Among the brass work 
were to be seen the spherical brass rolling lamps, 
pierced with an all-over intricate floral design, that 
left fairly evenly distributed apertures through 
which the rays of light would strike when the lamp 
was lighted within. This, by an ingenious piece of 
mechanism, always maintained its level position, 
though the sphere might be rolled along the ground 
like a ball. It could be opened by hinges in two 
equal hemispherical halves. These lamps are used 
at festivals in the temples, and have a beautiful 
effect. 

Calcutta is not impressive architecturally, cer- 
tainly. The modern buildings are of the usual 
commercial type as a rule. Government House 
has a certain stateliness with its white columned 
porticoes among the palms and greenery of other 
trees ; and Carnac Street is a long wide street of 
large detached residences standing in ample 
gardens. The Esplanade is a wide open plain in 
the midst of the town, with some groups of trees 
upon it, but rather brown and desolate, the turf 
being burned by the sun. The native quarters are 
very squalid. The bazaars and shops were often 
tumble-down temporary-looking sheds and structures 
of bamboo sticks and straw, old tins being often 
seen thrown on to weight the rotten matting or 
thatch which formed the roofs, which were often, 
too, patched with corrugated iron. Occasionally 
there was a house-front which had seen better 
days — a former villa or mansion, with a columned 
portico, but now become a squalid tenement house. 



CALCUTTA— DARJEELING 223 

These were at least one's impressions on a very 
short visit ; but it was so oppressive that we were 
anxious to get away to Darjeehng, and so took our 
departure on January 28th by an afternoon train 
from the Iscaldah station. For about an hour or 
so after leaving Calcutta, the train runs through 
beautiful groves of palms and mangoes, plantains 
and bamboos, intersected by tanks of water, 
vegetable gardens, and thatched villages among 
the trees. Later we crossed the great open plains 
of Bengal, cultivated and fertile under irrigation, 
with but few trees, stretching as far as the eye could 
see under the full moon. 

At Sara we changed, having to leave the train 
to cross the river Ganges. The scene was a 
strange one. The waiting steamer lying ready, 
had to be approached over the wide shallows by 
two long narrow gangways, constructed out of a 
few planks, suspended from bamboo sticks stuck 
upright in the shallow water, with lights at intervals. 
A troop of European and American travellers 
wending their way from the train along one of the 
gangways to the white steamer, and a procession 
of natives with their bundles crowdino^ alongf the 
other to the same vessel. 

Arrived on board we found a table spread ready 
on the quarter-deck and we had an excellent dinner 
— very superior to those provided by most of the 
hotels. After this meal was over the steamer 
started on its voyage across the wide river, having 
a strong electric search-light at the bows which 
threw a great shaft of white light to the opposite 
shore, along- which it seemed to travel as if findino^ its 



224 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

way. Moths and flying insects fluttering into the 
beam of hght flashed Hke sparks or fire-flies. 

We found another train waitinof for us at a 
station on the other bank. Here we got into 
sleeping compartments. I had an American bishop 
and his friend, a young man, as travelling com- 
panions. About 6 A.M. the next morning we 
reached the foot of the hills, where another change 
was necessary and where breakfast was to be had 
at the station, after which we packed ourselves and 
our belongings into the tiny carriages of the little 
narrow gauge, toy-like train which makes the 
ascent of 7000 feet to Darjeeling. 

Starting about level, the ascent was quite gradual 
at first, the line winding through bamboo groves 
and tea plantations, and as it grows steeper the 
track twists up in S curves and loops, threading, 
like a steel snake, through umbrageous woodlands, 
sometimes following the road, sometimes crossing 
it. Among the many beautiful trees there was 
one of frequent occurrence which was new to us. 
It had something the manner of growth of an ash, 
but having a silvery bark like a birch, and clusters 
of large scarlet buds and flowers, without leaves. 
Some called it the " Forest Flame." Many of the 
trees were hung with climbing plants, forming 
lovely tangles and festoons, and through the openings 
in the woods, here and there, we had glimpses of 
the plains veiled in the morning haze. Higher and 
higher the little train carried us, curving so sharply, 
sometimes, that one could see the little pufiing 
engine in front, which had almost the effect, when 
rounding the sudden curves and loops, of some 



CALCUTTA— DARJEELING 



225 



grotesque creature trying to catch its own tail, like 
a playful kitten or puppy ! 

At intervals the various attitudes attained were 




THE DARJEELING TOY-RAILWAY TRYING TO CATCH ITS OWN TAIL ! 



painted on tablets at the side of the rail, or at the 
little stations. At Siliguri a halt was made for 
tiffin. Here the Mongolian and Bhutian peasants 
came up to the railway carriages and offered us inter- 
esting things in the way of silver rings, and silver 
ornaments set with turquoise, and large turquoise 
earrings of a fine bold design. The women all 
wore relic or charm-boxes with lids worked in 



226 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

delicate filigree and set with turquoise, and these 
were suspended by bead necklaces. Silver 
chatelaines and other charming ornaments were 
shown us, the women carrying the stock-in-trade 
of jewellery upon their persons. The high cheek- 
bones and narrow eyes, black hair and long pig-tails 
of the Mongolian were very marked, the men 
having quite a Chinese look, with their soft felt, 
turned-up inverted cup-and-saucer-shaped hats and 
pig-tails. The women had broad, smiling faces, the 
effect of which was heightened by a kind of bright 
brown varnish which made their faces look as 
if they had been French polished — perhaps to suit 
somebody's furniture ? — their hair was intensely 
black, and they wore two long plaits or pig-tails. 

The huts of the villages were of wood, and the 
original native roofing was of thin wooden shingles, 
which harmonised perfectly with the scenery ; but 
unfortunately corrugated iron was being extensively 
substituted for roofing purposes, and the old thatch 
or wooden shingles were frequently patched with it. 
At Darjeeling it was almost universal, and in 
consequence the buildings might be described as 
tin and temporary. Here and there was a fantastic, 
but generally not tasteful, touch of Germany, or the 
Swiss border, in the modern villa. Little toy-like 
dwellings are scattered along the mountain-sides in 
an accidental sort of way, as if they had been upset 
out of a box, and had stuck here and there among 
the trees in their fall. 

English suburban names catch the eye — at 
Darjeeling — such as " Daisy Bank " and *' Rose 
Cottage." The Europeans come out from Calcutta 



CALCUTTA— DARJEELING 227 

in the hot season to dwell here. The huts of the 
native people look very frail, almost like card- 
houses, leaning up against each other on the edges 
of cliffs, their roofs of ragged matting, straw thatch, 
or thin wooden shingles, or the corrugated iron 
aforesaid. Tall, tapering bamboo canes are fre- 
quently stuck up outside, bearing vertical strips 
of white cotton or linen cloth, like standards, with 
light tags of the same fluttering at intervals from 
their outer edges. These are said to represent 
prayers, and are supposed to ward off evil influences 

We put up at "Woodlands" hotel, which has 
a pretty walk up from the station, lined with fine 
old trees of the pine kind, very thick and dark, and 
having a slender cone-like form, reminding one of 
cypresses. These abound all down the mountain- 
sides, but are now in danger of being thinned too 
freely. The mountain-sides are intersected with 
paths, and terraced bridle roads, along which are 
perched the dwellings, above or below the road. 
As one rides up one can look almost perpendicularly 
down upon the tin roofs and into the little gardens, 
as these paths almost double back on themselves 
at different heights, as they wind up the hills. 

The manager and proprietor of "Woodlands" 
was an Italian by birth, but he spoke English like 
a native. He was one of an expedition which 
attempted to climb the Kinchin Junga (18,000 feet), 
a great snow peak of the Himalayas, which is 
conspicuous from Darjeeling when the clouds dis- 
close the view of the wonderful snow-clad range. 

He occasionally entertained his guests by a 
lecture in the evenings, illustrated by photographic 



228 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

slides taken on the expedition (in 1905) in which, 




^7=^xs 




CHARACTERS IN A TIBETAN MASQUE, DARJEELING 

however, four of the party lost their lives by losing 
their footing on a snow precipice. Climbing in 



CALCUTTA— DARJEELING 229 

the Himalayas seems to be handicapped by the 
necessity of taking coohes to carry provisions and 
camp furniture, as the explorer leaves the human 
world entirely behind him in entering these trackless 
snow-bound solitudes. 

One evening, just before daylight had quite 
faded, we witnessed a very curious and remarkable 
performance in the courtyard of the hotel, lighted 
by a few lanterns, which, however, rather increased 
the mystery of the half-light than really added to 
the illumination of the scene. It was a Tibetan 
dance or masque. To the sound of tom-toms, 
which marked the time, a dancer in loose white 
garments appeared — a man ; he wore a white tunic 
with a full skirt, and held a sort of white veil up 
over his head as he moved, and he appeared to 
have on Mongolian leggings and boots. He danced 
like a dervish, whirling rapidly round and round, 
his skirts forming a sort of spiral wheel of drapery 
about him as he moved. 

This dancer having finished his pas de seul, as a 
kind of prelude, retired, and was immediately 
succeeded by another — a fantastic-looking figure 
also in white, with the Tibetan conical turban, the 
details of whose costume I could not quite make 
out, owing to the fitful light, but he appeared in the 
characteristic loose tunic and leggings and the 
Chinese-like shoes. His style of dancing was quite 
different to the dervish, and might be described as 
a combination of the jig and the reel. While he 
was dancing there entered two very grotesque 
Chinese-looking lions, queer monsters, made up of 
two people who furnished the four legs— probably 



230 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

a man for the fore-quarters and a boy for the hind- 
most. Their heads or masks seemed to be each 
formed of half a tortoise shell, ingeniously enough 
the openings at the side of the shell being utilised 
as the sockets of large fierce staring eyes, a large 
open red mouth, and gleaming rows of pointed 
white teeth, completing a terrific countenance. 
Yellow drapery concealed all but the feet, which 
were clad in some kind of tawny soft leather. 
These lions were extremely lively, and frisked 
about, and lashed their tails in a most spirited way, 
keeping time with the tom-toms through all their 
wild movements ; as, together with the second 
dancer, who was, it appeared, the lion-tamer, they 
went through a very active and energetic dance. 
This over, each lion lay down, one on one side of 
the ground (there being no stage), and one on the 
other, facing the audience as they couched. 

Then entered a sort of knight, or warrior, on a 
red hobby-horse, and the dance was continued by 
his chasing the lion-tamer round and round, the 
latter always eluding his pursuer, and always 
emphatically repeating by the action of his arms 
the beat of the tom-toms in a defiant sort of 
way. 

Six more hobby - horsed riders in different 
costumes and colours next came in, one after the 
other, and joined in the pursuit of the lion-tamer. 
Presently, however, they changed the figure, the 
red hobby-horse remaining stationary, while the 
other six formed a sort of quadrille, advancing 
and retiring, and crossing over, as in the opening 
figure of "the Lancers." I forget exactly how the 



CALCUTTA— DARJEELING 23 1 

lion-tamer employed himself while this proceeded, 
but I think he must have temporarily subsided, 
while the hobby-horses kept the attention of the 
audience. Finally they all joined hands and 
danced in a ring, raising a curious kind of chant 
the while, after which the hobby-horses all marched 
out in single file, still chanting. 

Then a peacock (with a skirt) came in, moving 
in a slow, measured and stately fashion, dancing 
and bowing in a quaint manner, flapping its wings 
occasionally ; next it approached one of the 
couchant lions, who all this while had remained 
passive, and apparently sleeping, and gave it a 
sudden and decisive peck, the action being 
instantly emphasised by the tom-toms. After more 
genuflexions the peacock finished his dance by 
giving a similar peck to the other lion, each lion 
at the touch starting violently and lashing their 
tails. Then exit the peacock. 

Next appeared, crawling in with a sort of wobble, 
a turtle, also wearing a skirt which concealed its 
feet. At its entry the lion-tamer exhibited all the 
symptoms of comic fear, trying to hide himself from 
the turtle, and finally as it approached nearer, he 
threw himself on the ground and wriggled and 
writhed about in an access of ridiculous terror. 
Presently, however, whatever had animated the 
interior of the turtle it vanished unperceived, and 
the shell lay motionless on the ground. The 
lion-tamer approaching it apprehensively, but 
eventually taking up the shell, he danced up to the 
lions, who sprang to their feet, and then all these 
whirled about in a wild tempestuous dance to 



232 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

double quick time, until the lions, apparently 
exhausted, both lay down again in the same order 
as before. Again the troops of hobby-horses 
entered, and after another spin with the lion-tamer, 
all marched out, chanting, the beat of the tom-toms 
gradually growing fainter till they ceased as the 
company disappeared. 

We had not yet been favoured with a glimpse 
of the great snow peaks. Kinchin Junga seemed 
extremely shy, and remained wrapped in impene- 
trable folds of cloud which rolled over the edges 
of the narrow hills, or steamed up from the deep 
valleys, enacting the constant-inconstant drama 
of cloud and mountain, always a most fascinating 
spectacle. On January 30th, however, in the 
morning, between seven and eight, we were at 
last rewarded by a beautiful glimpse of the snow 
peaks of the Himalayas, dominated by that of 
Kinchin Junga, clear in the golden light of early 
morning, piercing the turquoise sky, like the vision of 
some celestial city floating on a sea of roseate cloud. 
The unusual height of the peaks in the sky surprised 
the eye, accustomed to see clouds where now were 
these vast mountains. The delicate modelling 
of the snow summits clear and sharp in the 
sunliofht had the effect of makino- them look much 
nearer than the intervening valleys and dark pine 
covered slopes lost in mist and deep shadow, and it 
was strange to think that one gazed at these snow 
peaks across a distance of about 45 miles. 

Human dwellings and structures looked flimsy 
and trifling, no more than the work of ants 
or spiders, comparatively speaking, but indeed 



CALCUTTA— DARJEELING 



^Z?> 



Darjeeling has no architecture to boast of. For a 
region subject to earthquakes great allowances must 
necessarily be made, but the corrugated iron style 




THE SHY PEAK OF KINCHIN JUNGA 

certainly failed to assert the dignity of man in 
such a landscape, and the native hut did not 
look more permanent or substantial than a bird's 
nest. 

The little town has a central square where there 



234 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

is a native market. Little low bazaars line the 




A RIDE AT DARJEELING : " UP HILL SPARE ME 



sides, and the streets, but in the centre the vendors 
spread out their stock-in-trade on the bare ground. 
There may be seen turquoises in great quantity, 



CALCUTTA— DARJEELING 235 

and unset stones of many kinds, and an infinitude 
of silver rings and ornaments. The best, however, 
were always offered by the country people and the 
coolies, and the Bhutian women, who always 
seemed able to produce any number, and we were 
followed by quite a little crowd holding out rings 
and silver ornaments to tempt us, when we went 
through the market. My wife discovered a pair 
of green pigeons in a characteristic Indian domed- 
cage made of canes, hanging outside one of the 
native huts, and sent our bearer to negiotate the 
purchase, and for six rupees they changed hands. 
The birds travelled with us to Ceylon, and on the 
steamer homewards till we met the cold weather 
in the Mediterranean, when the hen bird died, the 
cock surviving until we reached Italy. They had 
to be fed upon a sort of meal made from a kind of 
powdered dried peas, not always easily obtainable. 

There were many interesting walks and rides 
at Darjeeling. A favourite excursion was to Tiger 
Hill, a distance of six miles, from where Mount 
Everest, the highest mountain of the world, can be 
seen — in fine clear weather, and sunrise is the 
usual time for it. The modes of progression are 
by jin-rickshaws or ponies. There are excellent 
ponies to be had at Woodlands, and we enjoyed the 
steepest ride we had ever experienced. 

The pig-tailed Mongolian coolies are always on 
hand in the courtyard of the hotel, waiting for custom 
in either mode of transport. Palanquins are also used. 

We met here some English friends and fellow- 
travellers. It was pleasant to fall in with my old 
Bostonian friend, Mr Louis Prang, who, with Mrs 



236 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



Prang, were travelling with a party of some twelve 
Bostonians. 

The alarming accounts of the prevalence of small- 
pox at Bhutia deterred us from going to see the 




^ ^ 



r~, 



cC- , O 



o 






On n 






y2 



A HAILSTONE CHORUS — DEPARTURE FROM DARJEELIXG 



Buddhist temple at Bhutia Busti, though the 
immediate cause was a thunder-storm, which came 
on just as the rickshaws had been ordered, and 
stopped our excursion; and being advised to abandon 
the project for the reason above given we made 
no second attempt. 



C ALC UTT A— D ARJEELING 2 3 7 

Before leaving Darjeeling we were favoured by 
another clear vision of the snow peaks and Kinchin 
Junga in all his glory, before breakfast, and I was 
glad to have been able to secure two drawings as 
a record of that wonderful view. We departed on 
the first of February in a hail-storm, walking down 
to the station in a pelting shower of enormous 
stones, which rattled around us with a thunder and 
lightning accompaniment. The hail-stones are 
so large sometimes in that district, and the storms 
so violent, that much damage is done. At Wood- 
lands all the glass windows here on one occasion 
were broken, we heard ; and also that the stones 
were known to have been occasionally large 
enough to kill deer ! 

We were soon on our way, joggling down to the 
plains again in the squeezy little train, the hail 
turning to rain lower down, and we were sometimes 
wrapped in cloud. As we got still lower, however, 
the sky towards the north-west began to clear, and 
there was a striking effect as of a great curtain 
being lifted up, showing the bright sky beyond and 
the sun shining on the plains. Soon we passed 
into his light again, and enjoyed clear weather to 
his setting. 

Reversing in the course of our journey the 
changes, we proceeded to Sara again, recrossing 
the Ganges, the search-light producing striking 
effects as it wandered over the shore and the vessels, 
picking out its twin white steamer with startling 
distinctness. We had the morning light over the 
fruitful plains of Bengal, in which the scarlet flower- 
ing trees or " forest flame " before spoken of 



238 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

looked more wonderful than ever. The thatched 
huts of the native villages were interesting in shape, 
and differed from any other local variety we had 
seen. They were built of bamboo, with curving 
roof ridges. Groups of these huts were of frequent 
occurrence ; they stood on raised platforms, inter- 
spersed with plantains, or date or cocoa palms, the 
window openings on the inward side only, and 
under the deep overhanging eaves. 



CHAPTER XIV 

MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 

A VAILING ourselves of the kind hospitality of 
-^^^ our friend in Carnac Street, we reposed 
during the day intending to leave Calcutta again 
by the night train (Madras Mail) for Madras, our 
next destination. This was a considerable journey 
as a glance at the map will show ; in fact it was our 
longest in India, occupying two nights and two 
days. 

After some anxious moments in Carnac Street, 
through our tickorgary not turning up for us at 
the time ordered, or through some muddling on the 
part of our bearer, we eventually got conveyed to 
Howrah Station. Luckily the train did not start 
so soon as stated — it never does in India — and we 
were saved. 

The train proved, however, to be very crowded, 
and we could only secure a berth each in separate 
compartments, though there was a small sliding 
door between the ladies' and the gentlemen's sleeping 
compartment, through which communication could 
be made. Four ladies, a baby, and a parrot, and 
the green pigeons made up the complement in the 
ladies' part. I had two travelling companions only, 
a river-steamer captain or engineer on sick leave, 
going south with his family, and an English officer 



240 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



of the Army Medical Service going to some hill 
station beyond Madras. The former kept himself 
going with whiskey and soda, of which he freely 




CALCUTTA TO MADRAS — SECTION OF SLEEPER — OR SOMETHING 
LIKE IT 



invited his fellow travellers to partake. The 
latter proved to be Capt. J. B. Dalzell Hunter of 
the 64th pioneers. He was studying Persian, and 
introduced me to a most interesting book, the 
^'IQD-I-GUL," or "The Rose Necklace," being 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 241 

selections from the Gulistan and auwar-i-suhaite 
translated into literal English with notes by Adal- 
at Khan. This was full of delightful stories, and 
rich with oriental imagery and wisdom. 

Leaving Calcutta in the darkness of night, of 
course nothing could be seen of the country till 
next morning when we were approaching Cuttack, 
when we took " Chota Hazri " — or early light 
breakfast. A little south of this hills appeared 
inland reminding one in character and apparent 
height of our lake country. We passed Poori, 
the junction for Juggernath, where crowds of 
pilgrims go, especially at the time of the great 
festival of Krishna in March, when the image of 
the god is borne through the town on the famous 
car, out to a temple in the country. The old 
story we were told in childhood of the dreadful 
heathen custom of the natives on such occasions 
throwing themselves under the wheels of the car 
of Juggernath has been discredited. Krishna, 
being a god of love and life, not a destroyer, 
would not be pleased with human sacrifices, and 
they would be quite inappropriate. It might be 
possible, however, that the car, drawn as it is by 
men with great cables, through the press of pilgrims, 
might accidentally crush some one fallen in the 
crowd, and European missionaries may have mis- 
understood what had really happened, and had 
misrepresented and exaggerated it. 

There were many new and different types of 

natives at the stations. We were now on the 

Bengal-Nagpur Railway, and the native crowds, 

and groups entering or leaving the train all down 

Q 



242 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

the line, were most interesting in character and 
colour. Pilgrims from Juggernaut bearing small 
canes back with them as signs of their pilgrimage, 
Brahmans with red marks like seals on their fore- 
heads, and others with the triple pronged fork- 
like mark of Siva in white and red. The men 
wore their hair long like women, sometimes done 
up in ample knots at the back of the head, and 
sometimes hang^ino- down the back. All wore a 
sort of tight cotton skirt or piece of drapery 
checquered or patterned in colour wrapped round 
the loins, and depending from the waist to the 
feet ; a white loose jacket frequently surmounted 
this, so that judging only from the back view, 
the stranger with European prepossessions as to 
dress distinctions between the sexes, might have 
some difficulty in saying which was which, or who 
was who, especially as the native women frequently 
wore similar skirts, white bodices, and their hair 
in knots. It was chiefly the beards that betrayed 
the gentlemen ; otherwise the equality of the 
sexes was fairly well established, as to outward 
appearance at least, in the way that might astonish 
some of our Western reformers. It is true some 
of the men, like the ancient Egyptians, wore nothing 
above the skirt, except perhaps a white scarf on 
the shoulders, and the field-workers and coolies 
all down the Coromandel coast wore nothing but 
white turbans and waist cloths. 

We passed the Silver Lake, really an inlet of the 
sea nearly surrounded by hills, the train startling 
large flocks of brown geese from the margin as it 
passed. Our old friends the white cranes we saw 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 243 

again lower down the line among the marshy pools. 
Paddy fields in various stages, often under water, 




LADIES OR GENTLEMEN ? (FASHIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA) 

irrigation wells drawn by oxen, as well as another 
pattern — like the Hungarian or Egyptian, a walking 
beam weighted at one end, the other having a rope 
attached to the bucket. The Southern Indian 



244 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

ones are, however, worked by the natives, generally 
two, working up and down from the centre, from 
which the beam swings, making it dip and rise 
again with bucket, the men steadying themselves 
by upright bamboos fixed each side, sometimes 
chanting a song to mark the time and enable them 
to move together. 

Groves of palms were passed and pyramidal 
hills, bringing the same suggestion of Egypt 
we had had before, on the way to Chitorgarh. 
There was no doubt about getting further south as 
the temperature was much higher, the thermometer 
registering 75° to 80° and this was February 4, 
whereas only two days before we had been shiver- 
ing over a fire at Darjeeling ! In the burning sun we 
could see the dark figures in white turbans and 
waist cloths, coolies on the railway line, and 
ploughmen in the fields toiling in the heat. We 
stopped for breakfast at Berhampore. In the 
district from here to Vizianagram there was former- 
ly a flourishing silk weaving industry among the 
natives. " All gone now," said a bright-looking 
European official in white drill and topi who 
entered our compartment. From what he told us 
further, it seems that this industry declined for 
very obvious causes — because the raw silk, the 
very material upon which it subsisted, was exported 
and consequently the occupation of the native hand- 
loom weavers was gone. 

At Waltair, one passenger left, but our com- 
partment was kept full as another immediately 
succeeded him and all four berths were occupied 
on the second night. One got more or less 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 245 

broken sleep, but perhaps more than might be 
expected. 

At Bapatia next morning there was chota hazri, 
or early tea, ready, and it was very welcome. At 
Bitragunta there was a halt for breakfast. As we 
approached Madras, late in the afternoon, we came 
by lovely groves of palms, quite dark thick forests 
of them, with pools of water among them in which 
water lilies bloomed. Green parroquets decorated 
the telegraph wires, sitting in rows much as the 
swallows do in England in the autumn. The 
telegraph wires all over India are however a 
favourite resting perch with a variety of birds, 
and quick an observer may get a good notion of 
the variety of species in Indian Ornithology by 
noticing the many kinds of birds which may be 
seen in such positions, clearly silhouetted against 
the sky. 

We arrived at the Beach Station, Madras, about 
five o'clock on February 4, relieved to have reached 
the end of our long journey. Hotel touts here 
may be described as active and strong on the wing. 
We eventually squeezed ourselves into a tickagary 
with our light baggage, and in spite of the presence 
of Moonsawmy — or perhaps in colusion with him 
— an officious native guide mounted the box and 
offered us information as to the public buildings 
we passed on the way to the hotel. The Prince 
of Wales's was full, but the proprietor advised us 
of another not far off, known as the Castle, which 
had formerly been the pavilion or palace of a native 
prince, and was a large two-storied yellow washed 
building with colonnades on the ground floor, and 



246 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

extensive terraces on to which the rooms opened 
out, on the first floor. These terraces were pro- 
tected by a parapet which took the form of low 
battlements, whence possibly the hotel derived its 
name. There was a pleasant garden shaded by 
trees around the building, walled in from the road, 
and having entrance gates. Here we found 
agreeable rooms and plenty of space, without 
oppressive luxury or comfort, and as cool as might 
be expected, if it is ever cool anywhere in Madras ? 
The hotel was under English management, and 
photographs of familiar places at Torquay and on 
the Cornish coast hung in our salon. Mosquito 
curtains told their usual tale, being generally a 
necessity in India, but are more particularly so at 
Madras. 

On the drive from the station we passed Fort 
St George which dates from 1680, and is the only 
building of any historic interest. There were big 
Law Courts in a pretentious Italian Gothic style 
after the manner of modern Bombay architecture. 
The British traders and their stores and posters 
were in evidence, and " summer sales " going strong 
at the drapers, attracting smartly dressed English 
ladies in their motors and doQ^-carts. The streets 
were broad, and there was plenty of space every- 
where. The hotels and bungalows were surrounded 
by large gardens, and abundant trees — palms being 
very plentiful. 

It was pleasant to hear the clear notes of birds 
in the early morning, and of course we had the 
usual kite and crow chorus. In the eveninof there 
was a children's party going on at a pavilion in the 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 247 

garden, and popular European waltz tunes came 
from a piano. 

The temperature in our rooms ranged from 75° to 
80° and we felt anything but energetic. We had, 
moreover, in the afternoon an interesting drive out 
to the Adyar Library, the headquarters of the 
Theosophical Society built by Colonel Alcott who 
was now lying ill there. Having had a telegram 
from Mrs Annie Besant in the morning, a visit was 
arranged. She could not leave the Colonel, as he 
was then in a dying state. Our road lay between 
beautiful groves of palms of various kinds, mostly 
cocoa palms, and native villages, the huts of one 
story, long and low, and roofed with ridge tiles of 
a delightful bronze colour, the tiles, probably sun- 
baked, being doubled and trebled over and under 
alternately. The roads were covered with a fine 
dust of a rich reddish-brown tint, almost coffee 
colour, and this tint varied with the full red and 
bright white of the dresses of the natives, and their 
dark skins, and relieved by the clear light green of 
the paddy fields, and the gold and green of the 
palms, in the warm evening sunlight, made a fine 
harmony. 

We passed a Hindu temple and a tank, and 
crossed a bridge over the broad river (Adyar) and 
on the other side presently drove under an ancient 
fragment of a stone carved gateway, and so through 
the wooded grounds to the Adyar Library, a new 
building of red brick and red sandstone of semi- 
Hindu type. 

A lady clad in white conducted me to a large 
upper chamber very lofty and long in proportion 



248 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

to its width, furnished more or less like a European 
drawing-room, with chairs and couches, but high on 
the wall at intervals were various religious symbols, 
in white plaster relief, among which I noticed the 
Gammadion and the Serpent and the Tree. There 
was a pretty view over the river from the windows, 
on the side. 

Presently Mrs Besant entered. She was robed 
in white. It was the sari dress of the native women 
in some fine soft material, with embroidered borders 
also white. Her hair too had whitened since I 
knew her in London many years before. We 
spoke of the old days — of Cunninghame Graham, 
G. Bernard Shaw, and Sidney Webb. Mrs Besant, 
once an active and ardent socialist, seemed to have 
quite removed herself into another world, strikingly 
different from the one of strife and protest in which 
she with her wonderful eloquence had been a potent 
influence, and was now devoting her life to inculcat- 
ing the principles of Theosophy and educational 
work among the young Hindus. Her idea was to 
gather the best elements out of all religions, and to 
unite them in one comprehensive creed, the key- 
note of which, as I understood, is universal brother- 
hood. In her schools she desired to cultivate the 
higher side of the native Hindu religion, refining 
and spiritualising, though by no means European- 
izing, but preserving all native characteristics in 
dress and courteous manners, and as far as possible 
preventing any Western contamination. 

In the great hall on the ground floor the first 
thing that catches the visitor's eye is the text 
inscribed aloft on the entablature in large carved 



MADKAS AND THE SOUTH 249 

characters — " There is no reHgion higher than 
truth." 

On the walls of this hall, also, are carved in stone 
another series of symbols, treated as a series of 
panels in relief, and among these it was interesting 
to find Mr Holman Hunt's well-known picture 
" The Light of the World," reproduced in relief by 
a native sculptor. In a recess in the opposite 
wall was a life-size seated portrait of Madame 
Blavatsky in marble. It was intended to place a 
statue of Colonel Alcott standing beside her, Mr 
Besant told me. His loss will be a severe one 
for the Society. 

We drove back by way of the Triplicane or 
Mohammedan quarter — the native bazaar, a brilliant 
scene of colour and movement. On the way we 
passed several " Toddy Tappers," as they are called, 
at work on the palm and stems. These are natives 
who extract a sort of spirit from the palm, and who, 
clad only in white turbans and waist-cloths, climb 
the tall, smooth columnar stems of the cocoa palm^ 
by a curious method — a sort of loop of cane which 
encircles the upper part of the body, and hooks 
round the tree stem. This they shift in jerks as 
they climb, using their legs and feet in the usual way 
as a grip on the stem. We noticed the small, gourd- 
like bottles attached to some of the trees, which are 
placed so as to catch the juice from incisions made 
in the bark. The spirit made from this juice is 
sold in the bazaars. 

The jin-rickshaw is much in use in Madras as a 
means of locomotion, and some of them will even 
carry two people at once, though this seems heavy 



250 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



for one boy. The native boys who draw them 
are, however, active enough and but Httle 
encumbered with clothes, and are always eager 




MADRAS — A JIN-RICKSHAW MADE FOR TWO 



for custom. Mount Road in the main thoroughfare 
in the European quarter, and here all the principal 
shops and stores are situated. These as buildings 
were mostly pretentious and tasteless. St George's 
cathedral was a semi-classic church with a pointed 
spire. The Post Office had red-tiled gabled spires 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 251 

of a more or less Swiss type, with iron crestings, 
and arcaded balconies on each story. One sees 
relics of eighteenth century semi-classic taste in 
some of the older houses with plastered walls yellow 
and white-washed. The vast gardens which broke 
the continuity of the buildings, and often isolated 
them, and the pleasant avenue-like character of the 
main roads, always lined with shady trees, made 
up for many architectural short-comings, and again 
suggested spacious ideas for a garden city. 

At the head of Mount Road was the Munro 
statue where other roads diverged — a bronze statue 
by Chantry of a gentleman in a cloak pointing — 
probably to indicate his line of policy, though, 
more literally, he might be taken to be showing 
the stranger what a long way he was from 
Madras. The electric trams are no doubt useful 
as the distances are enormous and dusty, walking 
being impossible for Europeans, as they would 
soon be covered with a powdering of fine red 
dust. 

We paid a visit one evening to the Botanic 
Gardens where we saw the Victoria Regia (which 
is usually associated with the inside of a hot- 
house at Kew) growing in the open on a lake. 
There were beautiful palms here and many 
varieties of trees. One we noted was covered 
with white blossoms which looked and smelled like 
orange or lemon flowers, and had green fruit of 
an egg shape, hanging from its branches. 

Madras we found too oppressive and inervating 
to stay long, and so on February 8th we departed 
for Tanjore, rising at 4.30 a.m. to catch an early 



252 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

train, and were only able to snatch a hasty hazri, 
and get into a belated carriage and drive through 
the gloom of the early morning — or rather by the 
dim light of the waning moon to the station for the 
5.45 train South. 

Our compartment was shared at different stages 
of the journey by British officers. A Babu with a 
quantity of baggage, and three German Mission 
people — a gentleman and two ladies with still more 
baggage, who filled it pretty well up to Tanjore. 

The country seemed very productive, and on each 
side of the line most of the way were large crops 
of paddy, much of it under water. In many places, 
too, the natives were ploughing in the water. 
The crops in some of the fields (or rather pastures 
separated by low banks of earth) were a brilliant 
light green, in others the grain was ripe, and was 
being reaped with hooks by the natives, while 
further on they would be threshing and stacking 
the straw. The method of threshino- out the o-rain 
was primitive. A man would hold a loose sheaf in 
his hand and beat it hard, several times in succes- 
sion, on the ground ; this shook out the grain, and 
then he would cast the straw that remained to the 
men who were stacking it near by. They made 
low wide stacks straight on to the bare earth. The 
women gathered up the paddy as it was reaped. 

We passed more fine groves of cocoa palms, 
distant hills were visible inland here and there, and 
there were generally large sheets of water each 
side of the line, but the rivers which we frequently 
crossed were almost dry. 

The crowds of natives at all the stations were 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 253 

again very interesting. The men generally wear- 
ing their hair long and done up in knots. In fact 
the men had finer and more luxuriant heads of hair 
than the women, whose hair was usually short and 
fuzzy. Sometimes the men had their foreheads 
and temples shaved, and let their hair grow freely 
at the back. Caste marks were painted very 
boldly and distinctly on the dark foreheads. The 
sacred mark of Siva occurring most frequently — 
a red vertical stroke in the centre between two 
white lines radiating from the nose. 

The men also wore the coloured skirt tightly 
wrapped about their middle and falling to their 
feet, the upper parts of their bodies being left bare, 
except for a loose white scarf, like a towel, thrown 
over their shoulders. The coolies and agriculturists 
wore nothing but turbans and waist-cloths. The 
women invariably wore silver nose rings, earings 
and anklets, and the Sari dress. Mahomedans 
seemed to be very scarce in these parts. As to 
colour, reds and whites prevailed in the dresses. 
Sometimes the vivid crude (magenta) aniline pink 
which has become unfortunately too common in 
India was to be seen. A favourite blend was red 
and yellow in the women's Sari dresses, in stripes, 
or crossed tartan-wise. 

Light cakes, bananas, and painted toys and 
other trifles were hawked about at the stations, the 
sellers uttering curious cries and chants. Everv 
station had its tap of water, and always a thirsty 
throng of natives from their crowded compart- 
ments would be seen clustering around it filling 
their bright brass drinking cups, which they 



254 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

invariably carry, quenching their thirst and wash- 
ing themselves. 

Apropos of the refreshment stations, I find a note 
in my journal as to what appears to have been a 
particularly unsatisfactory Tiffin at Villuparam, for 
which we were induced to pay i rupee 8 annas in 
advance, but of which " only a little currie was really 
eatable." How much more sensible (perchance not 
so profitable) it would be to give travellers the 
chance of ordering from the carte, and paying 
according to a fixed tariff Travellers are by no 
means always able to eat the provided meal, and 
need milk and easily digestible foods, and simple 
cookery. The hard meat, stringy fowl, and messed 
up dishes usually offered are very inappropriate, if 
not positively injurious food. Simply cooked sound 
fresh food is a great want at hotels and railway 
stations all over India. 

We arrived at Tanjore between 6 and 7 in the 
evening. There were sleeping and refreshment 
rooms at the station. The station-master met us 
and said that a room would be vacant at 9 o'clock, 

as Lord and Lady ? who then occupied them 

were leaving by the 9 p.m. mail. In the meantime 
we had a ladies' waiting-room to ourselves and could 
dine during the interval. The sleeping rooms 
were across a bridge on the other side of the line 
in a new terraced building, with an English house- 
keeper sort of woman to receive us and our rupees. 
There was quite an up-to-date porcelain bath, but, 
on examination, one tap was cut off, and there was 
no water in the other ! There were spring beds 
and mosquito curtains, and it was a fairly cool room. 




TANJORE— THE GREAT GATE OF THI', TEMPLE 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 255 

The system here was to charge i rupee 8 annas 
for a room for the first twelve hours, and if occupied 
for longer then the rate was higher. 

Hearing there was a good Dak bungalow near 
by, we decided to take up our quarters there the 
next morning and found it quite nice, cool, quiet,- 
old-fashioned and unpretentious, and their being no 
other travellers we had it all to ourselves. From 
what the native in charge said it appeared that the 
new station rooms rather injured his custom, as 
travellers now mostly stayed there. 

Our exploration of Tanjore commenced by driv- 
ing to the Old Fort within which stands the great 
Hindu Temple dedicated to Siva. The great 
gateway is approached by a bridge over a moat, 
then dry, which surrounds the Fort. The outer 
gate is plastered and is crowned by a row of figures 
of deities in niches which are brightly coloured. 
The great gateway is of yellow sandstone and is 
richly carved — a mass of figures and detail. The 
image of the god Siva and his various incarnations 
constantly appears. Various legends connected 
with these are painted on the walls of the court at 
the back of an arcade, and are exceedingly curious. 

The great Nandi, or sacred Bull of Siva, a 
colossal image of a recumbent Bull, richly orna- 
mented with chains and bells around his neck, is 
seen on a pedestal approached by steps in the 
centre of the court, under a pillared and decorated 
canopy. When we saw it first a magnificent peacock 
had perched himself upon the head of the bull, his 
tail drooping over its neck. The bull was carved 
out of a fine black stone, really syenite, but much 



256 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

darkened by libations of oil with which the image 
is constantly anointed. It has all the character of 
the type of zebu in this district. We saw its living 
prototype in a street of Tanjore — a splendid black 
bull (short-horned) lying down with its yoke com- 
panion, a white one, equally noble looking. 

The pillared front of the small temple close by 
was richly coloured, and on a sort of frieze was 
a, series of portraits of the reigning family of 
Maharajahs. 

The Temple guide spoke a little English, but 
occasionally would stop for want of words, but we 
generally gathered his meaning, and he seemed 
unusually intelligent. 

Ganesha, the elephant god (of generation) fre- 
quently appeared among the others, Siva and 
Parvati being the chief One of the scenes 
painted on the wall of the arcade, already spoken 
of, represented the wedding of Siva and Parvati, 
who stood, hand in hand, with a tree in the middle 
— like Adam and Eve, Among the guests at this 
wedding were represented two giants, one whose 
appetite seemed to know no limit, while the thirst 
of the other was unquenchable. The first was 
shown devouring all kinds of food, and to express 
the drinking capacity of the other a stream of water 
full of fish was flowing into the mouth of the other. 
These were very primitive paintings, but expressive. 
The figures were drawn in black outline and filled 
in with fiat tints. At the gate of the Temple there 
were drawings on the white-washed wall in thick 
outline in Indian red, in quite a different style and 
no doubt of a much later date. A large number of 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 257 

Lingams were shown in rows placed together In 
one corner of the court, and there were many 
Lingam shrines in the arcade besides. Here and 
there was colouring on the carved figures, but, as a 
rule, the elaborately carved pagodas were left in 
yellow sandstone, which had blackened where 
exposed to the weather, and it may have been that 
colour had been worn off. 

The later temple (dating from about the fifteenth 
century) had remarkably delicate carving on its 
lower courses, the edges being frequently pierced. 
At the steps of the entrance an elephant, carved on 
each side, formed the balustrade, each having two 
trunks, one curling inwards and holding a man in 
its coil, and the second extended and terminating 
in a volute at the end of the steps on each side. 

There was a noticeable point, as giving further 
evidence of primitive wooden construction, in the 
carved detail under the eaves of the great temple 
where there was a sort of intersected lattice work 
faithfully rendered in stone. It recalled the screens 
of bamboo and matting, commonly used in this 
district, added on to the edges of the tiled roofs in 
front of the huts and bungalows as extra shields 
from the sun, and this carved stone lattice work 
may have been derived from the wood work and 
the cane and wicker structure of the primitive 
buildings which preceded the use of stone. 

In the court of the great temple, in a shed (roofed 
with corrugated iron I regret to say), we saw the 
cars used for the procession through the city, on 
the occasion of the great annual festival in March, 
which appears to be similar to the Juggernaut. 



258 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

The high pyramidal canopied roof, supported on 
columns, was carved like the pagoda of a temple, 
which, in fact, it represented. The image of the 
god being placed within. The car would be drawn 
by a pair of oxen. 

We saw afterwards a religious procession of the 
kind passing down the principal street. Two men 
carried a banner in front, a piece of red cloth sus- 
pended between two poles. After them came a 
band playing tom-toms and hautboys, such as we 
heard at Benares. Then came the car drawn by 
two zebus, with its high pagoda, accompanied by 
priests in white robes, with long hair and marks on 
their foreheads. 

It struck me as remarkable how closely the dress 
of the native men here resembles that of the people 
of ancient Egypt as pictured on the monuments. 
Indeed, the Hindu pantheon itself suggests a 
certain kinship to the symbolic Egyptian religion, 
embracing, as it appears to do, the deification of 
all natural forces and types of animals and birds. 
The Hindus have their elephant god, their monkey 
god, and their parrot god, for instance, each figured 
with the animal's head but otherwise human, just 
as the Egyptians imaged their hawk-headed, cat- 
headed, and other deities. The ox of Osiris, too, 
seems to present a parallel to the sacred bull of Siva. 

We next visited the tank in the citadel, noted 
for the purity of its water, but it looked muddy 
enough we thought, and felt no inclination to test 
the sample offered us by a native in a cup. 

Near the tank was a very plain Christian church, 
dating from about the end of the i8th century or 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 259 

the beginning of the 19th, absolutely bare of orna- 
ment or symbol, with the exception of a small 
mural monument at the west end — a bas-relief in 
marble by Flaxman, in memory of one Schwartz, a 
British missionary. Not, however, a very good 
specimen of the sculptor s work, and looking as if 
it had been rather done to order, and thousfh it 
had Flaxman's characteristic broad simple treat- 
ment, was rather over smooth and "goody-goody" 
in expression — a missionary looking benevolent on 
his death-bed, clerical attendant and probable suc- 
cessor at his side, group of good boys in front, and 
row of turbaned Indians, presumably converts, on 
the other side of the bed. 

It was curious to see this bare, gaunt, puritanical- 
looking church, planted almost in the shadow of the 
great Hindu temple with its frank nature worship, 
pantheism, and riot of symbolism and imagery. 

From the citadel and the temples we drove over 
the bridge across the river into the city to see the 
palace of the Maharajah. Not a very beautiful 
building — a big, rambling, yellow-washed pile, 
looking rather untidy and neglected. In the guard- 
room at the entrance gate, there was a portrait of 
the father of the present prince. Through a cor- 
ridor, the walls of which were painted with quaint 
figures, we reached a small chamber, open on one 
side, but painted on the three other walls with large 
equestrian portraits of three Maharajahs — grand- 
father, father, and son. They were in profile, very 
richly dressed, and on finely caparisoned horses, 
with hunting dogs — the dogs running underneath 
the horses. These mural portraits were painted in 



26o INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

tempers, apparently, on the white-washed wall, 
and had flaked off in places, but they were good 
characteristic Indian work, and reminded one a 
little in treatment of European mediaeval design, 
such as may be seen in Burgundian tapestries of 
the end of the fifteenth century. 

We next came to a small court where we saw 
the Durbar Hall, divided from the court by an open 
colonnade. Inside was a miscellaneous collection 
of objects — portraits, rather dreary ones of the 
Maharajahs and favourite hounds, some on very 
dilapidated canvasses with holes through them — 
old fashioned French lithographs of the early 
"fifties," much fly-blown; a handsome palanquin, 
with dragons' heads on the ends of the poles ; 
another one was carved, and plated with ivory. 
There was also a beautiful ivory fan, of a large 
size and peculiar shape, probably to be used as a 
punka. Then, too, there was a bronze bust of 
Lord Nelson, presented by some English lady to 
a former Maharajah, and her own work. Then we 
saw the library, which contained quite a large collec- 
tion of old-fashioned Eng-lish books — in eio-hteenth 
and early nineteenth century bindings — such as a 
set of The Spectatoi% Hayley's Poems, Burns, Scott, 
etc., and also an extensive library of Hindu and 
Tamil manuscripts. These were peculiar in form, 
and consisted of long; oblono- sheets of a rouehish 
sort of paper, rather resembling papyrus in quality, 
protected by thin boards on loose covers of thin 
wood, secured round the middle by ties. These 
covers were sometimes lacquered on their outsides 
in various designs. On one I noticed the typical 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 261 

design representing Vishnu, with the lotus flower 
springing from his navel which contains the figure 
of Buddha, Laksmi looking on in wonder. These 
figures were drawn in black outline on gold, the 
gold high-toned with coloured lacquers. A smell 
of naphtha or some such moth antidote pervaded 
the place. 

We were then shown the armoury, where there 
were some rather showy sporting guns of English 
make, bearing the name of Mortimer & Co., and 
elaborately chased. There were very vile portraits 
of King Edward VII. and Queen Alexandra. 

After this we saw another Durbar Hall— the 
Maharana's — adorned with more dreary portraits of 
the family and a few stuffed birds. The most 
curious thing was a real skeleton in a real cup- 
board, side by side with a skeleton beautifully 
imitated in ivory. There they hung inside a plain 
upright cupboard, looking like a hanging ward- 
robe — but what a wardrobe ! What hung there 
needed no robes ! 

Down the main street of Tanjore there were 
placed at intervals very curious and richly carved 
wooden pagodas, apparently very old, upon cars 
with massive wheels of wood, somewhat like rude 
ox-cart wheels, some of them being discs. These 
were probably used in processions at the festivals. 

The houses were generally low, and of only one 
story, with the low-pitched ridge-tiled roofs as at 
Madras, the porches and raised terraces on plat- 
forms in front forming the shops, being further 
protected from the sun by lean-to extra roofs or 
screens of matting and bamboo, sometimes sup- 



262 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

ported on uprights of cocoa palm stems. Occa- 
sionally these screens are supported by growing 
trees which spread their foliage above. Pumpkins 
and gourds are often grown upon the tiled roofs, 
and have a charming effect with their wandering 
stems, green leaves, and golden spheres of fruit 
scattered over the rich brown tiles. 

The roads are deep in red-brown dust as at 
Madras, and there is a continual traffic of little 
covered tongas drawn by little trotting zebus in 
single harness. We had a broken-down victoria 
to drive in, and a fearful old crock of a horse, given 
to jibbing and really not fit to drive. The carriage 
seats were sliding ones, too ! 

Tanjore spreads itself over a large area of open 
spaces, interspersed with trees, gardens, and tanks. 
The water is abundant, and washing operations 
frequent. There is no coherent plan about the 
town, the streets wandering about into open space, 
and leaving off in a casual sort of way. There was 
a considerable market going on in provisions, and 
there was a silk-weaving quarter where may be 
seen the native weavers stretching long threads of 
silk on bamboo frames the whole length of the 
street, and winding it off on to wheels — our 
carriage nearly collided with one in a narrow 
street. The raw silk is often wound round 
short staves. 

We visited a weaver's shop, and were shown 
some hand-woven silk saris, brocaded with silver 
thread, the silver being turned into gold by som'e 
colouring process. A dress of ten yards can be 
bought of this beautiful material for 24 rupees. 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 263 

Red and purple are the principal colours, and 
these, with the gold thread woven in border 
designs of elephants, horses and peacocks, have 
a very gorgeous effect. 

European influence seems to have declined in 
Tanjore, although there are numerous Christian 
missions about. What strikes the unprejudiced 
spectator is the extreme unsuitability of any modern 
western type of Protestant Christianity, with all 
that it involves to the native mind, to say nothing 
of climate and habit. 

Western influence, it is true, asserts itself to the 
eye, at least, in the form of an ugly clock tower, 
and we passed " The Tanjore Union Club," where 
we saw native gentlemen in their cool, white, loose 
clothing playing lawn tennis in a well laid-out 
court. But the life of the mass of the people goes 
on unchanged as it has done for ages. 

In driving through the town we saw many little 
white-washed temples among the native houses 
their richly-carved pagodas rising above the low 
brown tiled roofs. At the doors are quaint paint- 
ings of elephants or tigers, and the white walls of 
the shops and dwellings are frequently ornamented 
in the same way with curious figures, among which 
occurs not unfrequently the English soldier with a 
dragoon's helmet and jack-boots. Outside a liquor 
shop I saw, painted rather boldly in red outline, a 
European lady and gentleman refreshing them- 
selves with wine-glasses in their hands. The lady's 
costume reproduced the rather fussy fashion of 
twenty-five or thirty years ago, the frills and 
furbelows quite carefully worked out with the 



264 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Indian love of detail, but somehow the general 
effect was rather Elizabethan than Victorian. 

In passing along one of the streets we heard a 
sound of tom-toms, and presently saw approaching 
on a zebu cart a large theatrical poster painted 
on the outer sides of two large boards leaning 
together, tent-wise, on the cart. These bore 
announcements in Hindustani and Arabic, with 
pictures of exciting scenes — Rajahs flourishing 
scimitars over people, and so forth. Natives 
walked alongside the cart distributing pink bills 
of the performances printed in Arabic, while the 
tom-toms attracted attention to the forthcoming 
show. 

In the evening we drove to the theatre, accom- 
panied by our bearer. We reached an open 
ground outside the town ; it was rather dark, but 
we saw a row of lights in front of us, and heard the 
sound of tom-toms. The old horse jibbed and 
would not go further, so we left the carriage, and 
Moonsawmy conducted us to some temporary 
structures of matting and bamboo, where tickets 
were sold. One rupee secured a chair in the front 
row. The theatre was a large, tent-like structure, 
with plastered piers supporting a roof of matting. 
The floor was of earth, the common ground, in fact, 
upon which the back rows squatted. The stage 
was also of earth, raised about three or four feet, 
the front being painted in broad red and white 
vertical stripes. The footlights were ordinary oil 
lamps, clustered in groups. The audience was 
entirely native (besides ourselves, who were the 
only Europeans present). Some sat close up 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 265 

alongside the stage on raised steps of earth. Dark 
draperies hung at the sides of the proscenium, and 
there was a coarsely-painted drop scene, of the kind 











TANJORE — NATIVE THEATRE — HOUSE FULL. PERFORMANCE FROM 
9 P.M. TILL 2 A.M. BUT WE DIDN'T STOP TO SEE IT THROUGH 



familiar in third-rate provincial theatres and music- 
halls at home. 

The first scene apparently represented a suburban 
street in the European quarter of an Indian town ; 
at least there was a square towered church in it, 
ugly enough, although some high-pitched gables 



266 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

rather suggested suburban England. A road 
in very acute perspective ran through the 
centre of the scene, which might, after all, 
have been bought from some European travelling 
theatre. 

The curtain raiser was of a sort of operatic, 
conventional courtship motive, and consisted of a 
musical dialogue between a young lady and gentle- 
man of uncertain country, costume, and period. 
The girl was badly dressed in a white muslin 
frock, with a little red silk waistband, and a 
tinsel coronet or tiara on her head. She kept 
her eyes on the ground the whole time, and 
moved stiffly and shyly ; her action, as well as 
that of the gentleman, being rather suggestive 
of marionettes. 

The lady began by singing, each strophe or 
couplet being repeated or answered by an anti- 
strophe from a chorus concealed behind the scenes, 
to the accompaniment of tom-toms. The little 
wooer presently appeared (also a girl), dressed in a 
cap of tinsel, a tunic of black velvet trimmed with 
silver tinsel, and breeches of the same, with brown 
hose or boots. He also began singing strophes, 
which were responded to or repeated by the chorus, 
and the lady replied in the same way. Whenever 
the lover made any advances the lady repelled 
them, and, after each of her sung speeches, crossed 
over to the opposite side of the stage, the lover 
doing the same. After a long course of this mono- 
tonous question and answer, sing-song business, 
they finally came to terms, and stood singing 
together, the lover with his arm round the lady's 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 267 

shoulders. A harmonium, playing at the wings, 
assisted the tom-toms. 

The piece de resistance next began. The first 
scene was a room of state in a Rajah's palace. 
The Rajah and his grand vizier, and an old priest 
or soothsayer in a turban and Indian dress, were 
the characters. The Rajah was a white man, of a 
rather Irish cast of countenance. He was dressed 
in black and silver, having wonderful silver spangles 
in circular patches as big as dinner plates down the 
front of his trousers. He wore a sabre at his side, 
and he was seated on a throne mounted on several 
steps, and each step was decorated by a large 
globe of silvered Bohemian glass. The vizier was 
attired in a similar way, but not quite so gorgeous 
as the king-. 

From our bearer's interpretation it appeared that 
the Rajah, or king, who commenced chanting in a 
most doleful and monotonous way, was in trouble 
for want of an heir to the throne, and consulted the 
turbaned old gentleman about it, who gave his 
advice at considerable length. 

The next scene showed the interior of a temple ; 
an image of the sacred bull was there, and a black 
man, clad only in a waist cloth, was officiating, 
apparently as priest. He was also evidently 
regarded as a comic actor by the audience, and it 
was rather curious to observe that his obvious 
burlesque of some native religious observances 
were received with laughter. He seemed to put 
the Rajah, the vizier, and the soothsayer, who now 
entered, through their religious paces, waving a 
brush over them and putting garlands round their 



268 INDIA IMPKESSIONS 

necks, uttering curious gibberish the while, with 
extravagant action, which seemed vastly to amuse 
the audience. 

The next scene showed the Rajah seated again 
in his palace, and to him entered a troop of zenanas 
to announce the joyful news of the birth of an heir ; 
but after they had departed with many salaams, 
something seemed to go wrong, and the Rajah 
began his doleful plaint again. The soothsayer 
and the vizier were again consulted, and both had 
a good deal to say, but matters did not seem to 
mend much, and the scene promising to be inter- 
minably long, we felt we had had about as much of 
the drama as we could do with, and hearing, more- 
over, that the performance would continue until 
2 A.M., having commenced at nine, we left Moon- 
sawmy to sit it out, after he had found us our 
carriage. 

The next day we had another drive through the 
city and its surroundings, reaching a pleasant 
region of palm-groves, and lakes where buffaloes 
were enjoying a bath. They lie in the water quite 
deeply, with often only their heads out or the ridges 
of their backs showing. 

At the bungalow various native pedlars and 
travelling merchants came up with their bundles, 
and, as we sat under the verandah, they would 
untie these and spread out their wares before us. 
These were generally new silver and copper re- 
pousse dishes and bowls, samples of the craft of 
the Tanjore district, but not good, being vulgar 
and mechanical in workmanship, although repeat- 
ing traditional patterns and representations of the 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 269 

chief deities of the Hindu pantheon. Some of 
these were embossed in silver, or rather were partly 
silvered over the copper, leaving bright copper 
in parts, but they had rather a flashy and tasteless 
appearance. The best things were the small 
antique bronzes and brass objects — bulls, horses, 
birds, peacocks, lamps, and curious shaped vessels, 
and many of these were highly interesting. A pair 
of bronze stirrups I acquired were charmingly 
designed, and showed delicate design and work- 
manship. 

In the town they make a kind of brass standard 
lamp, in various sizes, having a moulded stem sup- 
porting a shallow vessel for the oil, with niches 
from four inches, the brass image of a cock is usually 
placed at the top as a sort of finial. The parts are 
made to unscrew like the well-known antique 
Roman lamp which, in general design and struc- 
ture, this Tanjore lamp strongly recalled. Some, 
indeed, were terminated by ring handles just like 
the Roman ones. 

We had been fairly comfortable at the Dak 
bungalow, and the two brothers who kept it were 
most anxious to please. The cooking was unusu- 
ally good, and the place was certainly very quiet. 
The windows had no glass, but were closed with 
Venetian shutters (which did not always act, how- 
ever, satisfactorily). The floors were covered with 
India matting, and the beds were furnished with 
mosquito nets. The meals were nicely served, and 
the table always decked with flowers. The ther- 
mometer in our rooms registered usually about 75 
degrees, whereas at Madras it went up to 80 degrees. 



2 70 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Water was not carried here in goat-skins as in 
Bombay and the North- West and Central Provinces, 
but in large earthen jars. A man would carry one 
in each hand, or slung by strings from a stick over 
the shoulder. There was a fine young native who 
watered the garden in front of our bungalow — he 
had a splendid figure, and was almost the colour of 
ebony. I tried to get hold of him to get a study 
from him, but somehow he was not to be found 
when the time came, and another very inferior 
specimen was offered in his stead. 

We left Tanjore on the evening of February 1 1 
for Trichinopoly. It is only a two hours' journey 
by the railway, and we arrived quite punctually 
about 8.30. It was too dark to see much of the 
country, or get anything but a vague idea of the 
place, especially when under the cover of an ox 
tonga, two of which vehicles conveyed us and our 
baofo-agfe to the travellers' buno-alow about a mile 
off, the little zebus trotting along at a brisk pace as 
fast as ponies, and much better conditioned than 
any tonga ponies we saw in India. 

At the bungalow we found an English lady and 
gentleman, a newly arrived official and his wife, 
who had not yet got a house — who were then 
dining by candle light on the verandah — in_ posses- 
sion of the best room, and had to make the best of 
it in a small side room, poorly furnished, and with 
no mosquito nets. We got some soda and milk 
and turned in, but, alas, the beds were hard as nails 
and the mosquitoes troublesome and strong on the 
wing, while the temperature went up to 80 degrees 
aerain ! 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 271 

After breakfast the next morning' we got a car- 
riage (which was a considerable improvement both 
as to vehicle and horse to the one at Tanjore), and 




TRICHINOPOLY — OX TONGA — VITA BREVIS ! 



drove towards the fort, which stands conspicuously 
on a bold rock rising abruptly from the plain. 
Passing through the native bazaar we crossed over 
a long bridge, which spanned a very broad river 
thronged with bathers, and people washing clothes, 
and watering cattle, all busy in the stream which 
was quite shallow, not more than waist high. This 
bridge had been designed and built by an English 



272 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

engineer, somewhere in the forties. It was of red 
sandstone, and our driver pointed out a stone in the 
coping inscribed to certain EngHsh officers who 
served under CHve, and helped to lay "the founda- 
tions of the British Empire in India" in 1750-4. 

At about two miles from Trichinopoly we came 
to the great Temple of Seringham. Thatched 
native huts, forming a sort of bazaar, led up to 
and were clustered about the great gates, which 
resembled the entrance to the Temple of Tanjore. 
The height of the gateways were very great in 
proportion to their width. The great pagodas piled 
over them were carved with the greatest richness 
and intricacy of detail, and covered with the figures 
of gods and imagery of all kinds, surmounted by 
the curious rounded long barrel-like cresting, which 
is so characteristic of Hindu temple-architecture. 
The sculptured or modelled work here was all 
coloured, but many of the figures were said to be 
in stucco. 

I think we passed through three of these gate- 
ways before we reached the final one leading into 
the court, with a many columned pavilion in the 
centre, having a painted ceiling in which the Hindu 
gods figured. The great Temple of Seringham is 
sacred to Vishnu, whose image appears v.ery fre- 
quently. Opposite to this central pavilion is a 
colonnade havino- a frieze of carved and coloured 
figures under a cresting, Vishnu being in the centre. 
This seemed to be the Hindu equivalent for a 
sculptured pediment. The effect of the thickly 
clustered columns of white-washed stone supporting 
this band of rich carving and colour was very strik- 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 273 

ing, the sharp Hght and shade of noontide throwing 
the front into strong rehef, and through the aisles 
formed by the columns we could see another lighted 
court beyond. 

The main passage through was lined by the little 
stalls of a bazaar, grouped at the bases of the 
columns, where mementoes in the shape of small 
tin pictures heightened with coloured lacquer were 
stamped in relief with representations of Vishnu 
and his goddess, bead rosaries and necklaces, and 
jewellery were also sold, and little silk bags 
embroidered with portraits of the same deities. 

As we stood facing the second court, the sacred 
elephant of the temple came up, his forehead bear- 
ing the mark of Vishnu, painted large in red and 
white. It was amusing to see the animal pick up 
a two-anna piece from the ground, and pass it over 
its head to its keeper and driver seated on its neck. 
Another younger and smaller elephant soon joined 
the other, and this one had beautiful tusks which 
his larger companion was without. This one, too, 
skilfully picked up the small coins in the same way, 
fumbling with the sensitive finger-like point of his 
trunk to get hold of them in the crannies of the 
pavement. 

We then, passing across this second court, 
entered the Hall of a Thousand Columns — a sort of 
architectural forest. Before this is reached, how- 
ever, there is a smaller hall which has a very 
remarkable range of carved columns — the most 
extraordinary carved stone work in Southern India. 
They are strictly speaking rather columnar brackets, 
bracketed columns or corbels resting on bases, and 
s 



274 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



they represent warriors on horses spearing lions 
and tigers. The chief feature in each is the rearing 



(^.f^)J 




THE SACRED ELEPHANTS OF SERINGHAM— SECURING TWO- 
ANNA PIECES ! 



horse, which with its rider and lance, and smaller 
figures below, and the attacking tiger, or, sometimes, 
elephant, form a connected group cut out of a single 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 275 

block of stone. These sculptures have so barbaric 
and antique an appearance that it seems surprising 
they should only date from the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries together with the whole of the 
temple buildings. 

A curious effect is given to the interior of some 
of the temples here by the practice of whitewashing 
the pillars and walls, and leaving the carved figures 
untouched in the stone, which gives them by 
contrast an unusually swarthy appearance. 

Returning, we had a view of the Rock of 
Trichinopoly with the old fort and temple on the 
summit. This syenite rock crops out in various 
places in this district, but not often rising much 
above the ground, but only emerging here and 
there from the earth in a manner rather suaofestive 
of the backs of tortoises. 

Saw a mongoose at the roadside which soon crept 
out of sight and hid in the low brushwood at our 
approach. Trichinopoly is well wooded, but is not 
particularly picturesque, though the scattered tiled 
or thatched bungalows look pretty enough in their 
gardens, but on the whole it gives one the impres- 
sion of rather a straggling place. There was 
a deserted looking mission church with a few 
tombstones about it quite near our bungalow, 
trying to look like an English village church, but 
not succeeding. Leipzig Lutherans and Wesleyan 
Methodists are said to have "missions" here, as 
well as the Church of England. These missionaries 
seem to plant their stations wherever there are 
important Hindu temples. The wonder is that the 
natives are so tolerant. 



276 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

Madura was our next destination, and we were 
not sorry to get away from our stifling little barn 
of a room at the bungalow, leaving in the early 
morning about daybreak for the 5.45 Madras mail. 

The country was flat at first, with, again, large 
sheets of water along the sides of the line, but as 
we passed from the Trichinopoly district to the 
Madura district we entered a mountainous reofion, 
thickly wooded. I noted many cedar trees, and a 
kind of cactus growing high with tall tree-like stem. 
It was an interesting and varied country the rest 
of the way. The crops were chiefly paddy and 
castor oil plant. 

One station had the extraordinary name of 
Ammayanayakanur, and we were soon in the 
tobacco-growing district, passing Dindigul with a 
rock and an old fort upon it, not unlike Trichinopoly 
in character. Cigars of the district were offered at 
the station, but we saw no tobacco crops near the 
line. 

We reached Madura about noon, in time for 
tiffin, and engaged a room at the station, which was 
a o-reat improvement as to beds and general ap- 
pointments on our recent bungalow experiences. 
The sleeping-rooms were built out on a separate 
wing which appeared to be new. They opened on 
to a corridor which led to a large open terrace, and 
were in charge of a Eurasian woman. There was 
also a good dining-room at the station. 

It was tremendously hot, however, and we could 
not very well move out until after 4 o'clock, when 
having engaged a guide we drove out to see the 
great temple. Our bearer objected strongly to the 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 277 

o-uide and there was some friction between them, 
but as native servants were prohibited from enter- 
ing the temples, and were always stopped at the 




'"^ 



THE RIVALS. OUR MOONSAWMY AND THE MADURA GUIDE 



gates, Moonsawmy could not show cause why the 
guide was not necessary, and we found him very 
intelligent, speaking English well, and having the 
history of the place at his fingers' ends. 

The Madura temple is so remarkable and is on 
such a scale that I was anxious to get all the 
information about it I could. Mr Pillai (the guide) 



278 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

was very useful and well-informed, and he gave us 
many interesting stories and details about the 
sculptured figures and paintings. 

There are four great .pagoda-gates, richly carved 
and painted, of the same type but larger than 
those at Tanjore and Trichinopoly. Evidently 
the Hindus had no scruples about colouring their 
sculpture, and the colouring has been renewed 
from time to time. The prevailing tints used are 
turquoise blue, vermilion, yellow, white, and green. 
One of the gates the guide pointed out was granite 
up to the first story, and the figures were in stucco 
above. 

The four gates mentioned are connected by a 
high wall, on the crest of which occur at intervals 
the image of Siva (to whom the temple is dedi- 
cated) seated between two bulls, the bulls being 
placed upon the top of the wall, and the image of 
the God in a sort of arched recess, sunk into it a 
little below. The upper part of the wall is un- 
coloured, but a sort of high dado is carried along 
it below, painted in broad vertical stripes of red and 
white which seems a favourite scheme of decoration 
in Southern India. The wall encloses a broad 
paved court, and inside this is another wall with 
gates, through which the various temples and 
columned halls are entered. 

In the centre of all is the sacred tank, a large 
pool of water surrounded by steps, and an arcade 
of white columns. As we approached this, we 
saw a crowd of natives, men and women, seated 
on the paved margin of the tank along one side 
and between the columns listening to a priest who 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 279 

was preaching with much earnestness. Our guide 
said he was translating or expounding (one did not 
know with what gloss) passages from the Sanskrit 
text of the sacred books which another priest 
previously read in the original. 

The scene was a picturesque one. The various 
colours of the people's dresses, in which dark red 
prevailed, showed against the white wall and columns, 
and the brown faces made a harmonious scheme of 
colour. 

The wall along the upper part was painted with 
a series of histories of Siva and his incarnations. 
These picture-stories were arranged in tiers or 
friezes, about four or five deep, one above the other, 
and running the entire length of the wall behind 
the colonade, each side the tank. These paintings 
were highly interesting, painted probably with the 
main object of making the stories intelligible to the 
people, they were quite decorative, full of detail, and 
forming a rather closely filled and dark pattern of 
colour, having the effect of a woven hanging. 

One of the painted legends treated of a certain 
Maharajah who appears to have persecuted the 
early Jain seceders, much as the Roman emperor 
treated the early Christians, with great ferocity, 
finally impaling them on stakes, and thus they 
were painted all of a row ! 

The Jain sect was at first apparently regarded as 
a schism, and the Jains as heretics or apostates fall- 
ing away from the pure Hindu worship of Siva. 

One seems here, in this great Temple of Madura, 
to get back to the most ancient type of religion, and 
one which, after all, allowing for evolution in our 



28o INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

ideas, seems the most lasting — Nature worship. The 
Hindus in their pantheon include and embrace 
everything, at least in their own universe, which is 
their own country, and to them, truly, " nothing is 
common or unclean." Their deities incarnate 
themselves in all sorts of forms. Siva, according 
to one legend, for instance, even taking the form of 
a wild sow, and suckling the young of the mother 
which had been slain by the hunters. The second 
son of Siva rides upon a peacock, the representative 
bird of India. The Zebu bull is sacred to Siva, 
and in the Lingam is symbolised and revered the 
male and female principle of generation, the root 
and source of all life on the earth. 

In one place in the temple, between two of the 
columns, was a group of the nine planets personified 
and placed around the sun — a golden sphere in the 
centre. For each of these embodied planets might 
be found a corresponding personality among the 
deities of the classical world. 

Another striking thing about the Madura temple 
is the force of realization and expression in the 
figure sculpture. Life-sized figures of different 
gods and demons are carved in stone in front of 
the columns in many of the halls of the temple, the 
columns themselves frequently white-washed, while 
the figures are left in the untouched stone and look 
in contrast like bronze figures, their elaborate detail 
and undercutting emphasizing this suggestion. 
Indeed, the variety of character, invention, as well 
as the vigour and freedom, governed by a certain 
formalism, of some of this sculpture at its best 
reminds one of European gothic sculpture in the 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 281 

Middle Ages, not only in its symbolical and 
legendary aspect, but also its all embracing character 
and sympathy with the life of the people. The type 
of the Hindu mother appears, for instance, in one 
of the best of the figures carrying her child on her 
hip, just as the native women do to this day, while 
a suckling infant is suspended at her breast. 

Mockery, if not humour, too, seems to come out 
here and there sometimes, as in the dancing figure 
of a mocking musician playing on his pipes. 

A frequent subject is Siva presenting his sister 
in marriage to Vishnu, and there are besides a 
number of curious legends connected with the 
sculptures here, which are very various, and, of 
course, not unfrequently become grotesque or 
monstrous under the influence of the Hindu 
religious symbolic ideas and the Hindu inventive- 
ness ; but one feels that here is a genuine piece of 
ancient life, expressed in the forms of Hindu art — 
frank nature worship in full vigour of life, and a 
dominant influence in the lives of millions of people. 

In the sacred tank the people were constantly 
bathing and washing their clothes. The water 
never seems to be changed and is perfectly green 
in colour. Our guide said it remained pure and 
ordered a man to show its quality by dipping his 
hands in and holding a small quantity in them, 
cupwise. The water, however, was, even in this 
small quantity, quite green, although a clear green. 
It must have been full of vegetable matter, one would 
think. It reminded us of what the Maharajah's 
secretary had said of the Ganges water at Benares. 

The colouring of the interior of the Temple in 



282 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

parts recalled the mural decoration of ancient 
Egypt in its use of simple primary colours — red, 
green, white, and yellow prevailing. The lotus 
flower, too, was constantly introduced, treated as a 
rosette upon the ceilings. 

Some of the pillared halls were, however, left in 
plain stonework, or simply whitewashed. One 
long hall we entered looked very impressive in the 
dim light, a single ray from the sun penetrating, 
and making a spot of intense light upon the floor. 

We saw a gilded copper dome, and a golden 
flag staff, and our guide pointed out the great doors 
behind which the festival cars were kept, and we 
saw, too, wonderfully decorated life-sized images of 
elephants and horses which formed part of the show 
on great occasions. There were two black and 
two white elephants, standing between the columns, 
under rather tawdry and tinselly canopies, and other 
furniture of the festivals ; one large hanging bearing 
the words of welcome to the Prince and Princess 
of Wales, which must have been used for the occasion 
of their visit. 

Various donors of parts of the temple were 
pointed out, in effigy. The Czar of Russia appeared 
(not however in person) as the donor of certain 
shrines and a brass canopy or arch which held many 
lamps. 

The practice of drawing the image of the god on 
festival days through the streets on great cars seems 
general at all the chief temples in Southern India, 
and not confined to Juggernath. At Seringhahi 
we saw the great car on which the image of Siva 
was drawn on such occasions, and also the thick 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 283 

cables — like ship's cables — which were used for the 
purpose — multitudes of men hauling the car out of 
the temple and along the streets by these means. 
Here, too, at Madura the god Siva is represented 
seated upon his car which is treated as a kind of 
throne, the wheels and the horses sculptured at the 
sides in a symbolic sort of way. 

In some of the painted histories on the walls, 
Siva is shown in a winged car (suggesting his rapid 
flight and omnipresence, perhaps) and, presumably, 
his image is drawn out on a car at festivals to keep 
his presence and moving influence vividly in the 
minds of his worshippers. 

It was curious to see the bazaars in the corridors 
and outer courts of the temple. Rows of stalls, 
where all sorts of miscellaneous things were sold — 
brass ware, pottery, woven stuffs, beads, and all 
kinds of knick-knacks and toys. Some of the sellers 
squat on the pavement and spread out their goods 
before them. The temple and its courts is a great 
resort of the people, in fact. Pilgrims lie down and 
sleep near its shrines, and the children play freely 
between its pillars. Bats flutter in and out of the 
crevices of the ceilings, or hang in little black 
clusters up aloft in their recesses. 

In sketching at the sacred tank a very large crowd 
of natives gradually collected behind me, and on each 
side, and it was as much as the guide could do to 
keep them from closing in, and completely surround- 
ing me. Some American visitors to the temple 
whom we met afterwards in Ceylon said that, seeing 
this vast concourse pressing round the tank, they 
thought it was a suicide ! Tra^^ellers usually take 



284 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

snap-shots with hand cameras, and I imagine 
that a sketcher in colours is comparatively rare. 
The crowd, however, were quite quiet. The 
guide was encouraging, and remarked when 
I had finished that it was " better than a 
photograph," 

Another afternoon we drove out through the city 
and some three miles beyond to see the " Teppa 
Tank " — a large sheet of water, enclosed by a low 
wall painted in red and white stripes, with steps to 
the water and carved bulls decorating the balus- 
trades. On an island in the centre of the tank rose 
the pagoda of a temple, in stucco, and four small 
pagodas at the four corners of the garden- island — 
a mass of foliage amid which the pagodas shone, 
ivory-white in the sunshine. 

Near this tank on the roadside was another 
temple sacred to a goddess who was the object of 
solicitude in the case of people desiring offspring, 
and to whom votive offerings of cradles were made 
by the devotees, as well as doll-like images of 
children made of baked clay and painted. The 
flat roof of this temple was peopled with a crowd of 
these grotesque images, and the carriage boy was 
sent to fetch one for our inspection. 

Then we drove on to where grew a gigantic 
Banyan tree — eighty feet in girth, and having 
quite a small forest around its central vast trunk 
of offshoots — new trees which had rooted them- 
selves in the earth from the parent branches. 
It was rather suggestive of a many pillared 
sylvan temple. 

After this we reached the Palace of Tiramala, 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 285 

which stood at the head of a large village — an 
imposing structure in stucco, mostly yellow washed. 
The enormous columns of the court looked out of 
proportion to the arches they supported, which were 
of a rather debased Mogul type, heavy with very 
elaborate grotesque ornamentation in stucco in the 
spandrils and on the ceilings, many of which had 
as a central device a large lotus flower formally 
treated as a rosette, and in some instances elabor- 
ately painted. The effect of the whole building 
was rather weird, and suggested a rather queer 
architectural nightmare, in which massive Norman 
cathedral piers had swallowed Roman Doric ones, 
or vice versa, and a Hindu modeller had broken 
up some Mogul arches, and fastened them together 
again with grotesque elephants and dragons' 
teeth. 

The palace was now used as law courts, and it 
was curious to see two modern oil portraits of two 
neat English lawyers hanging on the walls of these 
vast columned halls. 

We next visited a native shop in the village bazaar 
where the fine muslins and silks of the district were 
made and sold. We were duly seated in chairs 
and fanned by boys, while an active brown member 
of the firm unfolded tempting saris, pugarees, and 
silk stuffs, some beautifully brocaded with gold 
thread, and of course we possessed ourselves of a 
few specimens. 

In this district there is a thriving native silk 
industry, hand-weaving, also dyeing, and the in- 
genious native craft of making patterns on cottons 
and muslins by tying and dipping. Hanks of 



286 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

cotton and silk may be seen hung out over bamboo 
poles placed horizontally, and ox carts roll by filled 
with the dyed skeins. There is a line dark rich red, 
frequently seen in the sari dress of the women, also 
a dark purple. The women here generally wear 
the dark red sari with a narrow border of black ; 
in some cases the sari is black with a red border. 

In the village street we saw a little native bride 
drawn in a carriage. 

Returning to the city in the cool of the evening 
we stopped at the temple bazaar and bought some 
zebu bells — curious little pear-shaped brass bells, 
each with a different tone, which are hung round 
the animals' necks. Their foreheads, too, are 
frequently bound with strings of beads, or shells 
fixed on leather bands, and their horns are painted 
ofreen or red. 

There is a method of decorating the centres of 
the dining tables in Southern India which, I think, 
we first noticed at the hotel at Madras, or at one 
of the refreshment stations on the Coromandel 
coast. It consists in arranging dyed sago seeds in 
patterns forming a table centre on the white cloth. 
At the station refreshment room at Madura there 
was a more elaborate example done by means of 
stencils — a border of yellow enclosed a _ lightly 
powdered filling, and an effective outer border was 
produced by a repeated sprig of a red rose with 
ofreen leaves. The oreneral effect was that of an 
embroidered pattern, but of course it was liable to 
slight displacements, and was constantly done 
afresh, one of the waiters being the special 
artist. 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 287 

We left Madura on the 15th of February for 
Tuticorin. 

The country traversed was flat and plain for the 




TUTICORIN. DEPARTURE FOR COLOMBO. THE LAST OF THE 
KITES AND CROWS. 



most part, with cultivated crops of castor oil 
plants, paddy, and corn, alternating with jungle 
of brushwood, but no fine trees. Hills were 
seen in the distance on the right, and we made 



288 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

several stoppages at short places with very long 
names. 

Arriving at Tuticorin about four in the after- 
noon, we went on to the beach station, and got on 
board a small steam launch or tug in waiting at 
the jetty, then we saw the last quarter, as it were, of 
our Moon-sawmy, and took our leave of him, after 
he had had his usual fierce dispute with the coolies, 
who certainly never received trade union wages 
from him. On the whole we were not sorry 
to get away from the rupee-hunting throng 
which usually hang about stations and wharves 
— the kites and crows in pursuit of the traveller, 
their prey, who for the time being, at least, now 
escaped their clutches. 

Tuticorin presented no obvious attractions 
except the sea, which we were quite glad to meet 
again. The launch seemed just large enough to 
hold the train-load of passengers — Americans, 
Germans, and English with their baggage, and after 
about half-an-hour's steam across the harbour we 
reached the steamer (the "Pandua" of Glasgow) and 
climbed up the gangway to the saloon deck. We 
secured a rather small but well-appointed berth 
opening off the saloon, and were able to enjoy a 
well-served dinner — food seems generally better on 
ship-board than on land— at least Indian land. 
Cargo boats were clinging to the steamer's side, 
and, at sunset, one by one cast off and hoisted 
their lateen sails (like those of an Arab dhow) each 
boat having one about the length of the vessel. 
The sailors in hoisting up the sail climbed and 
clung to the rope, to bring it up with their weight. 



MADRAS AND THE SOUTH 289 

Chanting a curious sort of song the while, our 
steamer weighed anchor and started, and we looked 
astern and saw the last of India fading from view 
behind the shining wake of the steamer, and lost in 
the glow of an orange sunset. 



CHAPTER XV 

NOTES OF CEYLON 

npHE voyage across the straits to Colombo 
-^ proved to be wonderfully calm, which was 
rather unusual as we understood it was as a rule 
tempestuous, and we did not find our cabin nearly 
so hot as our room at Madura. We sighted the 
coast of Ceylon early in the morning of February 1 6, 
and got into harbour at Colombo about 8 a.m. A 
fleet of fishing boats had previously passed us, of the 
curious native rig — a square sail apparently arranged 
to sail before the wind only. Our steamer was 
soon surrounded by a little fleet of odd shaped out- 
rigger canoes, some of them mere planks, paddled 
by active little darkie boys, who dived for small 
silver coins if they could induce the passengers to 
throw them. These little amphibians seemed as 
much at home in the water as in their canoes, and 
they swam like fishes. 

Our good friend Mr Bois sent a messenger on 
board to meet us and help us through the customs, 
having secured us rooms at the Galle Face. Most 
things are chargeable under the tarifl", but the 
traveller pays duty on his own valuation. 

The steamer did not land its passengers at the 
quay, but anchored in the harbour, and everyone 
landed in boats. The Hotel boats, manned by 



NOTES OF CEYLON 



291 



native oarsmen, row swiftly to the Custom House, 
and often race each other. After passing the 
customs we got into a Httle Victoria and drove 
straight to the Galle Face. 

Not much can be said for the architectural 









1^— -^J^|V}j.;ii:if:y'--^ 




LANDING AT COLOMBO 



beauty of Colombo, the buildings being, generally 
speaking, of ordinary commercial type. The 
Grand Oriental Hotel, or G.O.H. as it is commonly 
called, is a big pile near the harbour, and has an 
arcade surrounding the ground story, like most of 
the stores, and continuous balconies above, par- 
titioned off according to the rooms which open on 



292 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

to them. Here and there there Is a reHc of the 
Dutch occupation in some of the frontages with 
round recessed arches and pilasters. 

The Governor's house, as usual, is the most 
attractive looking building, half hidden amidst 
masses of palms and other trees. A rather bold 
clock tower faces a long esplanade, which extends 
for nearly half a mile along the sea front, at the 
end of which is situated the Galle Face Hotel, 
with its cluster of slender-stemmed cocoa palms 
leaning over the sea. Here, the long ocean 
breakers rolling in, the turquoise waves melting 
into dazzling foam, seen through the palm trees 
has an enchanting effect, both in the sunlight and 
the moonlight. There was a young crescent at 
night — seen, as only seen in the East, on its back — 
floating like a fairy boat, and casting a mysterious 
light over the dark ocean, the waving palms over- 
head and the sound of the breaking waves adding 
to the wonderful charm of the scene. 

Jin-rickshaws were in great request, but the 
supply seemed fully equal to the demand, and the 
esplanade was always full of the trotting boys 
drawing white clad Europeans in topis up and 
down the terra-cotta coloured road. There was a 
wide, green strip extending along the drive, and on 
the other side of the suburbs of Colombo extended 
northwards, chiefly native houses, and bungalows 
of European residents often enclosed in gardens 
and hidden in ample foliage of trees. 

The hotel was served by an army of Cingalese 
waiters who wore their hair much like the southern 
Indians — long, like a woman's, and done up in a 




UNDER THE PALMS AT THE GALLE FACE, CEYLON 



NOTES OF CEYLON 



293 



knot at the back, their pecuHar distinction, however, 
being- a semicircular comb of tortoise-shell worn 
like a coronet on the top of the head, but with the 



' m 




^u^ 




COMMON OBJECTS OF COLOMBO. (jIN-RICKSHAWUS BIPEDES) 

open points in front. Otherwise their costume 
consisted of a close white skirt, and a neat white 
jacket with green facings. Their feet were always 
bare, like the Indian boys. 

There was a band at dinner, served in a vast 
white hall, and after, on the terrace, when the 



294 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



guests would sit out among the palms lighted up 
by jewels of electric light. The white breakers 
foaming under the moon, the shadowy waving 




A CINGALESE WAITER 



palms, the sky flashing with sheet lightning, the 
brilliantly lighted hotel, and the white figures flit- 
ting about "among the guests star-scattered on the 
grass," all contributed to a striking stage effect. 

The hotel was certainly spacious and well 
appointed, having large cool corridors and rooms 
to sit in — comparatively cool that is to say, and 



NOTES OF CEYLON 295 

without the gloom of so many of the Indian hotels. 
In the matter of food, cookery, and the service too, 
it was a great improvement on the Peninsula, 
There were electric fans everywhere in motion, and 
we could always turn one on in our room — which 
was normally an oven. The draft from these fans, 
however, are said to be apt to give people chills, 
and some caution in their use in bed-rooms is 
necessary. 

We visited our friends in their charming house — 
one of the older style of Colombo dwellings, in a 
delightful garden where afternoon-tea was served 
on a pleasant lawn shaded by fine trees, among 
which we recognised the forest flame, which with 
its wonderful scarlet blossoms had struck us on the 
way to Darjeeling, though not then in flower here. 

Another day Mr Bois took us out for a drive in 
his motor all around Colombo and its neighbour- 
hood. We went through the town and along by 
the dry dock, and through the native quarter 
(Zeppa or Teppa) and away through narrow lanes 
shaded by cocoa palms, plantains, banyans, man- 
goes and other trees growing with tropical luxuriance 
each side the way, in plantations, and around the 
bungalows. 

The motor seemed a strange vehicle in the midst 
of the primitive life of the Cingalese ; and it is said 
that extremes meet, and certainly a motor and a 
primitive ox-wagon represent about the greatest 
contrast in means of locomotion and transport that 
one can well imagine. It was rather wonderful 
that we escaped a collision sometimes meeting such 
vehicles in the narrow lanes, or that we avoided 



296 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



running over stray chickens or dogs — the latter 
kind always resenting the motor and imperilling 








IN CEYLON — EXTREMES MEET — THE MOTOR AND THE OX-CART 

their lives by running and barking in close 
proximity with the enemy. The natives we met 
walking, too, were by no means alert in getting out 
of the way, and did not seem to realise the danger. 



NOTES OF CEYLON 297 

We passed mission houses and churches of all 
sorts, and of every shade of theological colour — 
Wesleyans, Roman Catholics, and Salvation Army 
— all the plagues of sectarian Christianity which 
afflict humanity in Europe, alas ! 

Our friend said, a propos of some remarks of mine 
about the ignorance and indifference of missionaries 
as to native religions and their natural suitability 
to the races, and their habits of life and the climates 
where they are found, that he had cautioned 
missionaries against running down the native 
religion. This in Ceylon, is mainly Buddhist (and 
Buddha surely discovered something analogous to 
Christian ethics, if not superior, long before Christ). 
The Tamils are Buddhists, but there are some 
Hindus and Mohammedans in Ceylon, and even 
pure Buddhism is mingled in some curious way 
with a primitive devil-worship. 

We saw the golf links and a golf club house — 
quite a la Anglaise — on a rising ground and bare 
of trees, for a wonder in Ceylon, It appeared that 
these links occupied the site of a farm which did 
not succeed. Then we saw the river, where an 
engineer's iron bridge had taken the place of a former 
bridge of boats, Colombo must have largely lost 
its primitive and Dutch character when the old 
Fort was destroyed. This has been replaced by 
terribly ugly Barrack buildings, and the town is 
rapidly becoming a modern commercial centre, big 
warehouses and universal provider's stores are 
rising up after the European or American type. 
The native character, however, manifests itself still, 
peeping out here and there, especially in the older 



298 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

shops, and there is more native costume to be seen 
than one had imagined. The country ox-cart is a 
striking object with its huge tilt of matting pro- 
jecting forward and backward hke a hood, the 
single zebu by which it is usually drawn appearing 
small for the size of the vehicle. 

We did not see many native women about, but 
those we did see wore the native dress, consisting 
of a white bodice, cut round and rather low in the 
neck, with a lace edging ; a necklace and earrings, 
and the narrow skirt wrapped about the lower half 
of the figure to the feet generally printed wdth a 
pattern, or chequered, similar to that worn by the 
men. 

We drove round by the Cinnamon gardens, and 
rested at a club house— a mixed European Club — 
a pleasant house with a large and well-kept croquet 
lawn in front where ladies were playing. We sat 
a while, after being refreshed and making some 
new acquaintances, we returned in the motor to our 
hotel. 

We had thunder and lightning at night. The 
lightning flashing almost incessantly all over the 
heavens, but mostly from great clouds rolling up 
from the north and east. 

While sitting at tea in the hall of the Galle Face 
one afternoon we met an old friend in the person 
of Mr Cyril Holman Hunt, the son of the famous 
pre-Raphaelite painter, who had been a planter for 
some years, first in Ceylon and afterwards in the 
Straits, from which he had just arrived. So that it 
was quite a chance our meeting, as he was not even 
staying at the same hotel. 



NOTES OF CEYLON 299 

The same evening the officers of the ItaHan war- 
ship Marco Polo were entertained at dinner at the 
Galle Face, and their band played selections 
afterwards. 

The scene in the hall of a Colombo hotel is 
always busy, but in a different way to a European 
hostelry — one might almost say it was feverish 
haste in the midst of languid indolence — a ballet 
of energetic action before a crowd of unconcerned 
spectators. While some are in the fuss of departure 
or arrival, rows of enervated travellers lounge in 
wicker chairs, reading, chatting, smoking, or 
engaged with tea or cooling drinks, mostly attired 
in white ; many of the ladies in delicate summer 
dresses, the men in white drill or tussore suits. 
All nationalities are represented, the majority 
American, and mostly people waiting for their 
steamers outward or homeward. 

Most visitors to Ceylon make a trip to Kandy, 
and one morning early saw us on our way thither. 
The railway carriages are good and comfortable, 
but they do not allow the stacking of hand luggage 
in them as they do to such an extent on the Indian 
railways. The train passed through a very rich 
and fruitful-looking country, where the paddy crops 
in different stages — under water, green and ripe or 
being reaped and thrashed — reminded us of India. 
The fields were generally surrounded by groves of 
plantains and palms. 

The vegetation being most luxuriant everywhere, 
banyans, mangoes, and flowering trees of different 
kinds including spireas and the " forest flame" wesaw 
at Darjeeling ; tangled masses of creepers hanging 



300 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

from the boughs, and often covering the whole tree. 
Several rivers were crossed the red earth showing 
on their banks, and the water generally tinged with 
the same. 

We reached Kandy about 11.15, the train 
ascending to this place about 4400 feet. The line 
curving up the slopes so that we could frequently 
see the engine and forepart of the train rounding 
the loop in front of us. We could only secure a 
room for one night at the hotel (the Queen's), so 
that we had to make the most of our time. 
Accordingly, after tiffin, we started in a carriage for 
what the hotel people prosaically called " No. 2. 
drive" (!). 

Skirting the large tank or lake in front of the 
hotel, which has a solid stone palisading around it 
cut into points and pierced, we ascended a steep 
road, winding up the hills through lovely woodlands, 
at every turn presenting fine mountainous and 
panoramic views of the country. Beautiful clusters 
of bamboo of enormous size occurred frequently, the 
stems very thick and of an oxidized bronze colour, 
varying from dark to light. Another kind had 
bright golden coloured stems, and a lighter, more 
feathery foliage. Cocoa palms, plantains, and 
mangoes were abundant, also cinnamon plants. 
A native boy offered us a cocoa bean pod, and a 
spray of cinnamon — a pretty tree with a tassel-like 
flower. There were also larg^e trees bearing^ massive 
pendulous fruits, which grow directly out of the 
trunk suspended on very short stalks in clusters" of 
two and three. This fruit was called "Jack fruit." 
It looked like a sort of gigantic walnut, and was 



NOTES OF CEYLON 301 

covered with a soft green velvety kind of rind. 
The leaves of this tree was small and poplar-like in 
shape. The brilliant scarlet lily-like bloom of a 
dark leaved shrub was often seen, the flower having 
long stamens hanging out like a tassel. 

The various drives which had been made over 
the hills and through these great woods were 
apparently named after different governors' wives. 
There was Lady Longden's drive, Lady Macarthy's, 
Lady Horton's, and so on. We sometimes had 
the impression, as the carriage followed the gravelled 
curves of these drives, that we were approaching 
some country seat among the hills. The drives, 
though well planned for points of view, and well 
kept, were, perhaps, a little too suggestive of 
the landscape gardener, a little too conscious and 
laid out to order, to be thoroughly enjoyable. We 
should have preferred to see the untouched work 
of the original designer of Ceylon scenery. The 
natural wild country unanglicised — though I know 
I should be told that without such roads and 
clearings one would not be able to see the country 
at all. 

We British, somehow, always seem to carry 
suburban ideas with us everywhere, and English 
trimness and neatness even out into the tropical 
wilderness. We passed neat homes surrounded 
by smooth tennis and croquet lawns, as if bits of 
Chiselhurst or Surbiton had been suddenly dumped 
down in the midst of all this wonderful world of 
luxuriant growth and unfamiliar trees, and close 
to native huts of the most primitive kind. 

The native roof here, as at Darjeeling, appeared 



302 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

to be either thatch or wooden shingles, and here, 
again, we were sorry to see corrugated iron creep- 
into use everywhere. 

The most primaeval sight we had was perhaps 
that of the elephants bathing in the river. This 
was at a spot close to a native village, where we 
left our carriage and, walking through a grove, 
came out on the river shore where five or six black 
elephants — one a large one with fine tusks — -were 
disporting themselves in the water, in charge 
of native attendants, rolling over on their sides 
and squirting the water over themselves by means 
of their trunks with the greatest enjoyment. The 
water was rather thick and reddish in colour from 
the clay of the banks. 

On the way back to the hotel we passed the 
famous Buddhist Temple of the Tooth with its 
pagoda-like roof, but it looks but an insignificant 
buildingf to be the centre of Buddhistic reverence 
and tribute. 

This was a lovely moonlight night, and the 
walk by the lake would have been perfect but for 
the touts and vendors of all sorts of things that 
you do not want. 

We left Kandy the next morning for Nuwara- 
Eliya our travelling companions were two Germans 
from Berlin, father and son. The train continued 
to climb, the line curving more sharply than before. 
We saw some fine mountain distances and Adam's 
Peak rising up afar, and soon entered a vast tea- 
planted district the tea plants often bordering the 
railway line, and covering the slopes of the hills 
which seemed covered with a more or less regular 



NOTES OF CEYLON 



303 



green pattern, the dark velvety green of the tea 
plants intersected by the light feathery foliage of 
young rubber-trees, planted in regular rows at in- 
tervals in some places. The landscape was very 






,0 










TEA PLANTATION, CEYLON 

" She liked coffee, and I liked tea. 
And that is the reason we always agree ! " 

clear and every detail sharply defined in the bright 
sunlight, with very little suggestion of atmosphere, 
except for the mountain distances which were deep 
blue. 

In the afternoon about four or five o'clock we 
reached Nunnoya station, where we had to change 
into a narrow-gauge train to finish the last part 
of the journey to Nuwara-Eliya. We continued 



304 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

to climb in shorter and more loop-like curves, 
being able often to gaze down on the line we had 
just traversed winding below like a glittering 
serpent among the wooded hills and tea planta- 
tions. Tea everywhere, and not a drop to drink — 
yet suggesting potentially more than the whole 
world could consume. 

Something after five found us at Nuwara-Eliya 
where we got into a wagonette, and a good pair of 
greys brought us through the village to the St 
Andrews Hotel, a very pleasant homelike place 
in a nice garden and backed by beautiful woods. 
The orio'inal house looked as if it mio-ht have been 
a private residence, and there was just a touch of 
Rydal Mount about it and its situation, at the 
first glance, but a new wing had been added with 
a tin- roof, and there was a golf course in the valley 
just below. 

The valley is very beautiful, with its richly 
wooded hills and a lake with blue mountainous 
distance. Delicate feathery, aspen-like trees wave 
in the soft air, and there are numbers of firs and 
cypresses which give an Italian touch to the land- 
scape, but no palms. In fact, the whole character 
of the country is totally different from Colombo 
and Kandy. The climate, too, is much cooler, the 
thermometer falling to 40 degrees at night, or even to 
frost, though the sun is hot enough in the middle 
of the day. 

There is a native bazaar, and an English quarter 
with a red club house, tennis courts, and a race- 
course — of course. St Andrews, however, where 
we were quartered, was quite away by itself, and was 



NOTES OF CEYLON 305 

altogether perhaps the pleasantest place we had 
stayed at either in India or Ceylon. It was possible, 
for one thing, to walk out without being worried 
by guides and touts, or to buy things. The climate 
was delightful after the enervating heat of Colombo, 
and there being hardly any other guests the quiet 
of the place was a great relief and very restful. 

One afternoon we had a walk up the opposite 
hills, the track being mostly through tea-plantations, 
with forest bits occasionally. The tea tree left to 
itself apparently grows high on a stem, having a 
very striking character and shape, suggesting almost 
the stone-pine. The small, thick-stemmed, closely- 
trimmed, flat-headed dw^arf bushes which are its 
characteristic forms in the tea plantations also have 
an interesting effect in some situations on the hill- 
sides, intersected by wandering paths whereon 
the dark natives move up and down. The tea- 
plant has a leaf somewhat of the character of a 
laurel or orange tree, and its flower recalls that of 
the orange. Ceylon tea when made is of a beautiful 
clear orange colour — I mean when poured from the 
pot. 

The Hagdalla gardens, founded by the govern- 
ment in 1 86 1, well repay a visit, and are deeply 
interesting to anyone interested in the flora of 
Ceylon. It is a drive of about six miles ; passing 
through the native village, and by the English 
Club and race-course, the lake is skirted, and after 
that the road takes the character rather of a 
mountain pass, and runs along the edge of a deep 
wooded ravine down which a rocky stream tumbles 
into falls over boulders. There was just a touch of 



3o6 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

a sort of Borrowdale, translated into Cingalee, about 
this part of the drive. The wild forest which clad 
the hills each side of the valley was very different 
in character and colour to anything seen in Europe, 
the trees showed the most lovely tints of varied 
bronze, from pale green to copper red. The tea 
tree was abundant, and the rhododendron, which 
here is totally different in character and general 
shape to the cultivated shrub-like bushes in English 
gardens. Here it is a thick-stemmed tree, with a 
rugged bark, and a bold irregular outline with 
rather sparse leavage and deep crimson flowers 
which glow splendidly among the dark metallic 
green of the leaves. There is a sort of formal 
grotesqueness about the tree, too, which is rather 
Chinese. 

On the way through the ravine, at a solitary 
spot below the road, we saw a Buddhist shrine. 
On a little platform surrounded by a rough fence of 
loose stones, and facing the road, was a row of 
carved images, in some dark wood, standing figures 
of Buddha. In front of this rude structure we saw 
a native worshipper prostrating himself on the edge 
of the road, and bowing and bending towards the 
shrine. 

The Magdalla gardens are botanic and horti- 
cultural gardens laid out with great care and skill 
on the slope of a mountain. They apparently 
contain all the varieties of trees and plants indi- 
genous to Ceylon. Tree ferns are there in abund- 
ance, flowering trees of many kinds, and parasitic 
plants, and orchids in great variety, growing in 
their natural manner. As one threads the narrow 



NOTES OF CEYLON 307 

wandering paths it is as if one passed through a 
thick jungle or tropical forest, only that the walking 
is made easy, and botanical labels here and there, 
and signs of gardener's care and labour, remind one 
it is a garden. 

There is a keeper's lodge, in this Cingalese para- 
dise, covered with creepers, and a formal level 
parterre in front, one mass of brilliant floral colour 
— African marigolds, fuchsias, poppies, blue centred 
daisies, sunflowers, blue convolvulus, Amaryllis, 
and white eucharis lilies, canaryensis, polyanthus 
and many more ; some that might be found in 
English gardens and hot-houses, with other tropical 
wonders only seen at Kew. 

After a ramble here we returned to the carriage, 
and drove back through the now burrline sun. 

Gorse grows about the links and open common- 
like ground in the valley at Nuwara-Eliya, though 
the bushes seem to grow rather taller and straighter 
than they do in England. Instead of our lords and 
ladies, arum lilies grow wild. Great clusters of 
them may be seen by the sides of streams or in 
marshy places. The woods were delightful to 
wander in, and altogether Nuwara-Eliya might 
make good claims to be an earthly paradise, other 
things being equal. 

We had taken our passage, however, from 
Colombo, and were due to sail for home on the 
2nd of March. It was now the 28th of February, 
and we had to make our way back again, descend- 
ing from II Paradiso to a certainly hotter region. 
The descent by the narrow gauge railway was even 
more striking than the ascent, the train passing 



3o8 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

through luxuriant growths of forest in which tree- 
ferns, rhododendrons, the tea tree, and what looked 
like a sort of box tree were abundant. 

The rubber-trade in Ceylon is now being added 
to the tree-trade, which, according to our com- 
petitive wasteful individualistic system, has some- 
what outgrown its profitable market. One effect 
of this new development upon the landscape is 
devastation, as large tracts of wild forest on the 
mountain sides are being cleared by burning the 
natural growth in the first place, and then removing 
the stones and boulders which cumber the ground. 
This process does not add to the beauty of the 
scenery, nor can we expect that monotonous planta- 
tions will be good substitutes to the eye for the 
wild beauty and varied and luxuriant vegetation 
they displace. 

The Englishman in Ceylon seems to think of 
nothing but profit-making, however, like many of his 
race elsewhere ; and is probably often even unaware 
of the beauty he destroys for commercial reasons, 
and he is always able to import cheap coolie labour 
from India to carry out his schemes. 

The Cingalese native it seems is unwilling to 
work, or probably has not the physique for heavy 
field labour, so he prefers to live the natural life 
of his country so far as he is allowed by his new 
masters, and of course is denounced as a lazy dog. 

Ceylon, indeed, one cannot help reflecting must 
have been a delightful paradise, if somewhat warm 
in parts, for its own people, before they were 
interfered with by western civilisation, with its 
pushful commerce, and missions, bringing in their 



NOTES OF CEYLON 



309 



train poverty and disease, and the struggle for 
existence, in a land naturally fruitful and bountiful, 
and able to support its inhabitants without any 
special efforts on their part. 

The planters are now clamouring for railway 




TEA AND RUBBER IN CEYLON — A RISING INDUSTRY 



extension. In an interview which the Editor of 
TAe Ceylon Times sought with me I gathered 
that there was considerable discontent with the 
Home Government, who, he asserted, had derived 
greatly increased revenues from the extension of 
rubber planting and the new development of the 
industry, but who would not grant money for the 
desired extensions, the advice given by the 
present secretary for the colonies being to the 



3IO INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

effect that the Ceylon people should save their 
money, or "put by for a rainy day." 

Of course the Editor's point of view was that of 
the capitalist, and that the more the country was 
opened up the better, and he did not care to consider 
the effects of the ultimate outcome of the monolopy 
which absorbs the results of and succeeds com- 
mercial competition. 

He spoke, however, incidentally of the increase 
of poverty — poverty in such a land ! — and that 
there was no poor law yet. He said the Cingalese 
would not work, and had even neglected the 
irrigation machinery which had been set up by the 
planters for their benefit, in obedience to the 
requirements of the home governmetit. 

This would seem to show the difficulty of in- 
troducing ostensible benefits in a primitive country 
which has not reached the necessary stage of 
development to be able to take advantage of, or 
really to utilise, modern methods. From the point 
of view of the simple native no doubt there does 
not appear to be any reason why he should change 
the habits and customs of his race simply for the 
benefit of foreign settlers whose chief object is to 
exploit him. 

Changing trains at Nunnoya we were again 
greatly impressed by the splendour of the scenery 
traversed. For a great part of the distance towards 
Kandy and Colombo, the line passes through a 
mountainous district, at a high altitude, gradually 
descending, the line following the contours of the 
hill-sides for the most part, though tunnelled occa- 
sionally. One looks across a wide valley with 



NOTES OF CEYLON 311 

distant mountain ranges, ridge beyond ridge, in 
marked and emphatic outlines, and occasionally 
abrupt precipices — the sharp conical summit of 
Adam's Peak conspicuous among them. The 
hill-sides are largely covered with tea-plantations, 
but the railway also passes through wild bush and 
forest, and high above one may see great towering 
crags of limestone and gritstone. Mountain 
streams are frequently crossed, and these break 
into cascades and falls among tumbled black rocks ; 
great boulders frequently strew the mountain slopes 
as if tumbled by Titans among the foliage. There 
is occasionally a suggestion of Derbyshire scenery 
here and there, but on a grander scale. 

After Kandy the line descends still more till we 
reach the palm groves again, the river, and the 
lakes, and the heat of Colombo again. This time 
on returning we put up at the G.O.H,, which is 
conveniently near the pier or departure stage for 
the steamers. 

Here we met Mr Cyril Holman Hunt again, and 
were introduced to several of his planter friends, 
who were very agreeable. There is a delightful 
garden of palms and tropical plants here, which is 
a pleasant resort in the cool of the evenings. With 
Mr Hunt we visited the Colombo Museum, which 
was courteously opened specially for us, it not being 
a public day. Here in a glass case and alive some 
extraordinary leaf-insects arrested our attention. 
They were feeding on green leaves, which they 
exactly resembled in colour, form, and texture, so 
that it would be most difficult to tell which was 
leaf and which was insect without closely watching 



312 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

them. The young ones were like the red shoots 
of a plant, but the mature insects were quite green 
and quite flat like a leaf while showing the ribs and 
veinings. One could hardly have believed that 
nature, deceptive and imitative as she is, could have 
been capable of such a trick. I remember that a 
native at Kandy had shown me one of the green 
leaf insects in a box, but I thought it was an 
artificial thing, which indeed it looks. 

On the staircase were some copies of exceedingly 
interesting ancient Cingalese fresco-paintings from 
caves, resembling ancient Indian work in style, but 
in some instances showing a certain freedom in 
handling, the brush outline recalling later Greek 
vase-painting. 

There were excellent collections of native 
Cingalese decorative art in jewellery, silver work, 
and ivory-carving, of which latter craft some combs 
were the most delicate and interesting. There 
were also block-printed stuffs similar to the Indian 
hand-printed cottons. Among the jewellery, the 
necklaces of orarnets and other stones set in filap"ree 

o o 

gold were characteristic. There were models of 
native boats of which there are several interesting 
varieties, and these were exceptionally good life- 
sized models of types of the aboriginal inhabitants 
(the Veddas) — the wild bush-tribes of Ceylon. 

The natural history department was very 
complete, and the whole museum judiciously com- 
prehended the history, natural and archaeological, 
of the island, and included some highly interesting 
Greco-Buddhistic sculptured remains, not so fine in 
style as those we had seen at Sarnath, but there 



NOTES OF CEYLON 313 

was the same type of standing figure in drapery 
expressing the lines of the figure, and also portions 
of an " umbrella," showing a similar arrangement 
to the one at Sarnath, with the lotus flower centre, 
and the series of concentric rings of ornament 
containing the images of the lion, the horse, the ox, 
and the elephant in sunk relief. There was also a 
zoological collection attached to the museum in 
sheds and aviaries outside the main building — live 
animals and birds, including leopards, jackals, 
monkeys, flamingoes, pelicans, and a collection of 
small birds, minas, doves, etc. 

The time, however, for our departure from 
Colombo drew near. Our steamer the Tourane 
of the Messageries Maritime line arrived punctually 
on March the 2nd, calling at Colombo on her 
homeward voyage from China, and the same 
evening saw us aboard. 

We made our adieus, and our steamer cast off, 
or rather weighed anchor, about sunset, and we 
were soon under way. The dinner-bell rang at 
6.30, and going on deck afterwards we saw the last 
of Colombo — a mere thread of glittering beads of 
light on the horizon, and soon lost in the darkness 
of night. 

There was a large proportion of French people 
among the passengers, and they were chiefly officials 
and their families returning on leave from Chinese 
stations. They were exceedingly gay and lively, 
and always had plenty of conversation. It was 
like a continual comedy going on with much variety 
of character. 

On the 7th day, after a voyage of undisturbed 



314 INDIA IMPRESSIONS 

serenity over the Indian ocean, the blueness of 
the sea varied only by the steamer's track, and the 
foam dancing into rainbows, with flying fish, or an 
occasional turtle, or an albatross or two, which 
flapped heavily after us, we sighted Aden, and 
rounded the striking rocky coast to cast anchor off 
the port. Here the tugs brought up the coal 
lighters, and the cargo boats, and the swarm of 
Soumalis, as before, and the usual bazaar on deck 
took place, and the hauling of the coal and cargo 
went on all through the night — the clamours of the 
coolies being occasionally fiendish, and the din was 
often punctuated by bangs on an iron bar, which 
sent a shiver through the ship. This was the 
method of o-ivinor warning- to the man eno-ao-ed in 
the loading operations in the hold. We afterwards 
learned that two poor coolies had lost their lives 
by venturing into the hold before it had been 
ventilated, and the air was so foul as to suffocate 
them, and a ship's officer who went to their rescue 
also became insensible for a time. It seemed much 
hotter, too, now the ship was stationary. 

Artillery practice was going on from the fort the 
next morning, and we could see the shots strike the 
water. We did not get clear of Aden till about 
lo A.M., but at last the swarm of boats and swarthy 
Soumalis left us, and the Tourane entered on her 
course through the Red Sea, and in due time 
passed Mocha (to starboard) and Perim (to port) 
and the Arabian coast, the sea churned into foam 
by the steamer flashed with phosphorescence at 
night, — the effect in the wake of the vessel being 
very beautiful, green sparks appearing and floating 



NOTES OF CEYLON 315 

on the surface, and globes of subdued light glowed 
under the fleeting foam, rapidly swept along and 
lost in the darkness of the night lit only by stars — 
among which the Great Bear showed how much we 
had altered our latitude. 

The heat continued very great for three days 
after leaving Aden, when it rather suddenly grew 
cooler, and by the time we passed " the Brothers " 
towards evening on the 12th of March, the weather 
grew quite grey and cloudy with a cold wind. 

We reached Suez early on the morning of the 
13th, and here it was fine and bright again, though 
the air felt thin and cool. The colour of the water 
had changed, too, and was now a fine clear 
turquoise — precisely the colour of the Egyptian 
glass bracelets, but dark blue on the horizon and 
against the land, which looked pink. 

The drama of the official tug and the cargo boats 
was again performed, and there was much hoisting 
of coffee-bags, in and out, and a taking of fresh pro- 
visions on board. The Traders came aboard, too, 
with Fez caps, bead and shell necklaces, post-cards, 
and other trifles. It was amusino- to see our French 
friends buying the Fez freely, and not only wear- 
ing them themselves but putting them on the heads 
of their children. There had already been some 
astonishing transformations in costume on board 
since the cooler weather set in, topis and white 
drill being exchanged for tweed suits and caps or 
felt hats, and, in some cases, smart official uniforms 
with shakos. 

We left Suez about the middle of the day and 
entered the canal, the water still such a brilliant 



,i6 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



turquoise colour that the reflection in the strong 
sunHght caused the white breasts of the sea-gulls, 
which now followed our ship, to appear green. 




A FEW TRIFLES THE WIFE WISHED TO BRING HOME FROM INDIA 



We made some very agreeable acquaintances on 
board, which made the time pass more quickly, and 
we arrived at Port Said early on Friday the 14th 
of March. The coaling this time was a compara- 
tively clean process, the wind not being ahead as 
before. Some few of the passengers got off for 



NOTES OF CEYLON 317 

Egypt here, but we were soon under way again ; 
and M. de Lesseps' large effigy, the green dome of 
the Custom House, the steamers, the wharves, and 
the posters of Port Said soon all faded from view 
as we bade farewell to the East and entered the 
Mediterranean on our way to Marseilles, the last 
stage of our long voyage, where after some tossing 
we had a passing vision of snow-capped Sicily, and 
the Lipari Islands, with Stromboli still smoking 
away ; and so, in due course, through the straits of 
Bonifazio, with no further sea troubles, landed at 
Marseilles on March 19, safe and sound. 



INDEX 



Abu, Mount, 62 

Adam's Peak, 302, 311 

Aden, outward and homeward call 
at, 12-15, 314 

Adinath, Jain, pontiff, 131 

Adyar Library, 247 

Afghanistan, Amir of, preparations 
for reception of — 

At Agra, II3-I14, 122; at 
Gwalior, 135-136 

Aga Khan, 29 

Agra — 

Journey to, from Jaipur, 112; 
arrival — the hotel, 112-113; 
Pearl mosque, 113 ; drive to the 
Fort — Akbar's great gate, 113- 
114; the Taj Mahal, 114- 118 — 
its garden, 118-119; the Jama 
Musjid mosque, 119-120, 123; 
drive to the mausoleum of Itmad- 
ud-Daulat, 120; churches, 121 ; 
bazaars, 122 ; excursion to Sik- 
andra — tombofAkbar, 122-125; 
otherwise mentioned, 97, 144, 145 

Ahmed Khan, 50, 51, 151 

Ahmedabad — 

Journey to, from Bombay, 48-49; 
drive through the city,^ 49 et 
seq. ; mosques, 49-53 ; cotton- 
factories, 55 ; bazaar and street 
life, 55-58 ; native pottery, 58 ; 
railway station, 62 

Ajmir — 

Journey to, from Ahmedabad, 
62-63 ; Akbar Fort, 64-65 ; 
bazaars, 65-66, 70 ; the Dargah, 
66-68 ; fort of Targarh, 67 ; 
mosque of Arhai-din-ka-Jhonpra, 
68 ; Daulat Bagh, 68-69 ; can- 
tonments outside the native city, 
69-70 ; custom of nailing horse- 
shoes on the doors, 80 
Akbar, Emperor, 64, 131, 155, 177 ; 

tomb of, at Sikandra, 156 
Alviella, Count Goblet d', 41 
Alcott, Colonel, 212, 247, 249 
Alexandra, Queen, 13, 261 
Altamash, 68 



Altamsh, 157 

Alu-ud-din, 80 

Amber, deserted city and palace, 106-7 

American tourists, 76, 84, 96-97, 134 

Ammayanayakanur, 276 

Amritzar — 

Journey to, from Delhi, 161-162; 
hotel touts, 162-163 ; the hotel, 
163-164; drive through the — its 
open drains, 164 ; the Golden 
Temple, 165-166; carpet manu- 
factory, 166-167 j interview with 
a native pedlar, 167-169 ; the 
Atal tower, 169; public gardens, 
169 ; departure for Lahore, 170 

Anderson, Colonel, 185 

Arab dhow, 15 

Arabian coast, 12, 314 

Arhai-din-ka-Jhonpra, mosque of, 68 

Arjamand Bann, 117 

Arnold, Sir Edwin, 118 

Baker, Sir Samuel, 33 

Bandakin, 112 

Bapatia, 245 

Bareilly, 45 

Barielly, 184 

Bearer, native, engagement of, 30-33 

Bedding, need for travellers to supply 
their own, 35, 77 

Begara, 59, 60 

Benares — 

Arrival at — Clark's Hotel, 200, 
216-217; first impressions, 201 ; 
■ the Guest house, 201-202, 205- 
206 ; expedition to see the Bud- 
dist remains at Sarnath, 201- 
205 ; viewing the Ghats from the 
Maharajah's peacock boat, 206- 
211; the Burning Ghat, 209-210; 
the Manikaranika Ghat and the 
Nepal Temple, 215-216; pil- 
grims, 210 ; the Golden Temple, 
211; Hindu College, 212; the 
Monkey Temple, 212 ; visit to 
the Maharajah in his palace, 213- 
215 ; farewell glimpse of, 218 

Bengal-Nagpur Railway, 241 

319 



320 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



Berhampore, 244 

Besant, Mrs Annie, 212 ; visit to, at 
Madras, 247-249 

Bhutian peasants, 225-226, 235 

Birdwood, Sir George, 29 

Bitragunta, 245 

Blavatsky, Madame, 249 

Blow, Mr Detmar, 182 

Bois, Mr, 290, 295 

Bombay- 
Impressions of, from the sea, 21; 
the landing at, 21-23 ; Malabar 
Hill, 21, 29-30; street scenes, 
24-25 ; modern British buildings, 
25-26 ; Crawford market, 26 ; 
bazaar, 26-28 ; native wedding 
processions, 27-28 ; Victoria 
Gardens, 28-29 1 Victoria and 
Albert Museum, 29 ; engage- 
ment of a native servant, 30-33 ; 
oppressive heat, 46 ; welcome of 
M. Dadabhai Naoroji to, 46-47 ; 
cotton factories, 55 

Bonifazio, straits of, 4, 317 

Brahmans, 242 

British administration, benefits of, 
discussed — causes of unrest, 141- 
143, 190-192, 199, 309-310 

"Brothers, The," lightship, 11, 315 

Brown, Mr Percy, 179 

Buddhism — 

In Ceylon, 297 ; remains of, at 
Sarnath, 201, 203-205 — the 
Great Tope, 205 ; Temple of 
the Tooth, 302 

Buffalo cow, 36 

Burmese people, discontent of, under 
British rule, 199 

Cactus plant, 75 

Caine, Mr W. S., a'fed, 55, 109, 118, 

131. .151 

Calabrian coast, 4 

Calcutta — 

Races at, 29 ; National Con- 
gress at, 46 ; journey to, from 
Benares, 218-219; ^'"st impres- 
sions, 219 ; the Minto Fete, 219- 
220 ; a Hindu soothsayer at, 
220-221 ; industrial exhibition, 
221-222 ; general impressions, 
222 ; otherwise mentioned, 198 

Campbell, Colin, 189 

Candia, 5 

Caroline, Queen, 202 

Carpet manufactory at Amritzar, 166- 
167 



Carts, native, 22-23, 55' 104-105 

Cashmere travelling merchants, 181 

Ceylon — 

Notes of, 290 e( seq. ; decora- 
tive art of, 312 ; native costumes 
in, 292-293, 298 ; religion of, 
297; rubber trade in, 308-310 ; 
tea-plantations of, 302-303, 305 ; 
vegetation, luxuriant, and scen- 
ery, 299-301, 304-307, 310-311; 
Western civilisation — its ques- 
tionable benefits, 297, 301, 308- 
310 

Ceylon Times, The, interview with 
editor of, 309-310 

Charybdis, 4 

Chitor, city of, 77-79 

Chitorgarh — 

Journey to, from Ajmir, 74-75 ; 
night spent at, 75-77 ; visit to 
the ruined fortress, 77, 79-81 ; 
Tower of Victory, 81 ; otherwise 
mentioned, 95, 108 

Cinnamon tree, 300 

Clan Campbell, s.s., 9 

Clock towers, modern, in India, 194 

Colombo — 

Arrival at, 290-291 ; general de- 
scription of, 291-299 ; garden of 
palms, 311 ; museum, 311-313 

Coromandel Coast, native costumes 
on, 242 

Corsica, 4 

Costumes, native, 56, 72 ; in Southern 
India, 241-242, 252-253 

Cotton factories, 55 

Cotton yarn, preparation of, for hand 
weaving, 81 

Cranes, white, 54 

Crete, 5 

Crows, Indian, 23 

Cultivated Crops, 75 

Cunningham, General, 205 

Curzon, Lord, 119, 120, 122, 150 

Cuttack, 241 

Dacoits, 198-199 

Daulatabad, 34, 36-37, 44-45 

Dargah of Ajmir, 66-68 

Darjeeling — 

Journey to, from Calcutta, 223- 
226 ; toy railway, 224-225 ; 
general description, 226-227 ; 
Woodlands' hotel and its enter- 
tainments — the Tibetan masque, 
227-232 ; the town, 233-234 ; 
walks and rides round, 235 



INDEX 



321 



Dauvergne, M., 33, 44, 45 

Delhi- 
Journey to, from Agra, 146-147 ; 
arrival — British residential quar- 
ter — Kashmir Gate, 148-149; 
Mutiny memorial, 149 ; the 
palace — peacock throne, etc., 
149-151 ; Moti Musjid (Pearl 
mosque), 151 ; Jama Musjid 
mosque, 1 51-152; Jain temple, 
152 ; the Chandni Chouk, 152- 
154 ; excursion to the Kutab 
Minar, 154-158; mosque of Shin 
Shah, 155 ; Old Delhi, 155 ; 
ancient city of Indi-apat, 155 ; 
tomb of Humayun, 155-156; 
cemetery of Nizam-ud-din, 156- 
157 ; driving experiences, 159- 
160 ; departure, 161 ; otherwise 
mentioned, 99 

Delwara, 62 

Digby, Mr William, 141, 191 

Dindigul, 276 

Dinghra, Dr, 166 

Dovi^den, Mrs, 189, 194 

Driving in India, risks of, 159 

Dutt, Mr Romesh, i 

Dyeing, native methods of, 57, 104 

East India Company, 131 

Eastern life, influence of Western 
ideas on, 56, 94, 141-143, 190-192, 
199, 309-310 

Edward VII., 47, 261 

Egyptian religion, parallelism between 
the Hindu religion and, 258 

Elephants — ■ 

Excursions on, 77-78, 82, 107 ; 
bathing of, at Kandy, 302 

Ellora, caves of — 

Journey to, from Bombay, 33- 
38 — and back again, 44-46 ; 
temple of Kylas, 38-43 ; Buddhist 
temples, 43 ; village of Ellora, 

44 
Enamel, Champleve, 179-180 
Etna, Mount, 4 
Everest, Mount, 235 

Famines, native, 141 

Flaxman, 259 

Flying fish, 15-16 

Food at refreshment stations, unsatis- 

factoriness of, 254 
" Forest flame," 224 
French tourists, 96 
Fruit-bats, 61 

X 



Funeral, native, 93-94 

Ganesha, the elephant god, 41, 81, 

256 ' 
Ganges, scenes at the Ghats at 

Benares, 206-211; the Burning 

Ghat, 209-210 
Gardens, Eastern type of, loo-ioi 
Girgenti, 40 
Glass, convex-mirror-mosaic work, 

87, 177 

Gohad, Rana of, 131 

Grace, A. F., 132 

Graham, Cunninghame, 248 

Gramophones in India, 99 

Green ray, phenomenon of, 16 

Gunj Baksh, mosque and tomb of 
59-60 

Gwalior — 

Arrival at — the Guest house, 127- 
128, 134, 136-137 ; tomb of 
Mohammed Ghaus, 128 ; drive 
to the Fort, 128-132 ; palace of 
the Man Mandir, 129, 138 ; Jain 
Temples, 130 ; new town (Lash- 
kar), 131, 134-135; visit to 
Maharajah's palace, 132-133 ; 
sunsets over the Rock, 137-138 ; 
description of the old town, 138- 
140 ; departure — scene at the 
railway station, 144 

Hail and thunder storms combined, 

237 
Hardy, Miss, i 
Harrison, T. Erat, 194 
Hathi Sing, shrine of, 58 
Herefo7-dshire, s.s., 9 
Himalayas — 

Climbing in the, 227-229 ; snow 
peaks of, 232-233, 237 
Hindu and Tamil MSS., library of, 

260 
Hindus — 

Educated, debarred from high 

administrative posts, 142 
Religion of— nature worship in, 
41, 279-280 ; parallelism be- 
tween the Egyptian religion 
and, 258 
Temples of— at Madura, 277- 
283 ; at Seringham, 272-275 ; 
at Tanjore, 255 
Weddings of, 27-28 
Women, 33, 45, 104, 174 
Hiroshigi, 20 
Horton, Lady, 301 



322 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



Hotel life, picturesque feature of, 84- 

85 
Humayun, Tomb of, 155 
Hunt, Holman, 249 
Hunt, i\Ir Cyril Holman, 298, 31 1 
Hunter, Capt. J. B. Dalzell, 240 
Hunuman, Hindu god, 41 
Hunuman, the monkey god, temple 

of, at Benares, 212 
Hyndman, Mr H. M., 142 

India Office, policy of, 141-143, 190- 

192, 199, 309-310 
Indian Ocean, incidents on voyage 

in, 17 
Iqd-i-gul, or The. Rose Necklace^ 240- 

241 
Irrigation wells, 170- 171, 196 ; of 

Southern India, 243-244 
Ismailia, 9 
Israelites, passage of, through the 

Red Sea, 11 
Ivory carver's workshop at Delhi, 

153-154 

Jack fruit, 300-301 

Jagmandir, palace of, 88-91 

Jahanara Begum, 156 

Jahangir, 89 

Jain pontiffs, sandstone carvings of, 

131 

Jain sect, persecution of, 279 

Jain temples at — Ajmir, 68 ; Chitor- 
garh, 81 ; Delhi, 152 ; Gwalior, 
130 ; Udaipur, 86-87 

Jaipur- 
Journey to, from Ajmir, 97 ; first 
impressions, 97-99 ; the city, 
"the rose-coloured city," 99- 
100, 116; bazaars, 101-102, 104- 
105, 1 10; enamelled jewellery 
of, lOl, 102 ; spherical rolling 
lamps of, 102 ; the Maharajah's 
state elephant, 102-103 ; the 
Maharajah's palace, 103 - 104, 
118; street scenes, 105-106 ; the 
Maharajah's horses, lio-iii 

Jehan, Shah, 69, 89, 113, 114, 119, 150 

Jhansi, 145 

Jijibhai, Sir Jamsetji, 29 

Jopling-Rowe, Mrs, 196 

Jubbelteer, Island of, 12 

Jugglers, native — the mango-tree 
trick, 187-188 

Juggernath — 

Temple of, 86-S7 ; festival of the 
Krishna at, 241 



Juggernaut, pilgrims from, 242 
JuUumpore, i6i 

Kali, goddess, 109 

Kandy, visit to — its scenery and 

foliage, 299-302 
Khusru, 156 
Kinchin Junga, view of, 227, 232- 

233. 237 
Kipling, Mr, 177, 179 
Kites, Indian, 23-24, 110 
Koh-i-noor diamond, the, 125 
Krishna, festival of, 241 
Kunja Sahib, shrine of, 66 
Kutab-Minar, 157-158 
Kutab-ud-din, 157 

La Neva, s.s., 2 

Lahore — 

Journey to, from Amritzar, 170- 
171 ; the Charing Cross hotel, 
171 ; British residential and busi- 
ness quarter, 171-173, 178-179; 
native quarter, 173-175 ; liazaars, 
- 175-176; the Fort, 176-177; 
the Samadh, 178 ; Jama Musjid, 
178; Wazar Khan tiled mosque, 
178, 181 ; Courts of Justice, 179 ; 
Museum, 179-180; street scenes 
in, 181 ; visit from the Princess 
Duleep Singh, 182 ; departure 
for Lucknow, 182-183 

Lamps, spherical rolling, 102, 222 

Lashkar, 131, 134-135 

Laurence, Lord, statue of, 179 

Laurence, Sir Henry, 192 

Leaf insects, 311-312 

Lesseps, M. de, 317 

" Light of the World, The," 249 

Lipari Islands, 317 

Longden, Lady, 301 

Lucknow — 

Journey to, from Lahore, 183- 
184; Wurlzler's hotel, 185; in 
hospital, 185-186 ; native jug- 
glers — the mango-tree trick, 187- 
188 ; ruins of the Residency, 
189-190, 192; the Sikander 
Bagh, 1S9-190; Chatter Manzel, 
192 ; architecture of, 192-193 ; 
Jama Musjid, 193 ; the lambara, 
193-195; bazaar of the old city^ 
194-195 ; through the bazaar on 
elephants, 196-197 ; the Mar- 
tiniere, 197-198 

Lyons, 198 



INDEX 



323 



Macarthy, Lady, 301 

Madura — 

Scenery near, 276 ; visit to the 
Great Temple, 276-283 ; the 
Temple Courts, 283 ; Teppa 
Tank, 284 ; gigantic Banyan 
tree, 284 ; palace of Tiramala, 
284-285 ; silk industry, 285-286 ; 
table decorations at, 2S6 

Madras — 

Journey to, from Calcutta, 239- 
245 ; arrival — the Castle Hotel, 
245-246 ; public buildings and 
street scenes, 246-247, 249-251 ; 
temperature at, 247 ; visit to the 
Adyar library, 247-249 ; Toddy 
Tappus, 249 ; jin-rickshaws, 249- 
250; Botanic Gardens, 251 

Mahmudshah, 59 

Malabar Hill, 21, 29-30 

Mandal, 75 

Maratha chiefs, 151 

Marble- 
Piercing patterns in, 64-65 ; 
suitability of Indian climate for 
preserving, 69 

Marseilles, 2, 317 

Martin, General or Captain — 

Painting of, 193 ; schools founded 
by, 197-198 

Mayo, Lord, 1 00 

Mecca, sign of having visited, on 
house walls, 8 

Messina, 4 

Migration of Symbols (d'Alviella), 
cited, 41-42 

Mirza Jahangir, tomb of, 156 

Missionaries, indifference of, to native 
religions, 275, 297 

Mocha, 12, 314 

Mogul Emperors, private chapel of, 

H3 

Mogul Serai, 218 
Mohammedans — 

Educated, debarred from high 
administrative posts, 142 

Tombs of, 8, 59-60 

Weddings among the, 27 

Women, 104, 174-175 
Mongolian peasants, 225-226 
Monkeys, silver grey, 53, 59 
Moonsawmy, 33, 125-126, 183 
Mori, 63 

Morley, Mr John, 142 
Moses, well of, 1 1 
Moti Musjid, 1 13 
Mulich, Dr, i 



Munmad, a night at, 34-36, 45 

Muslin, native method of printing on, 
70 

Mussulman mosque of Arhai-din-ka- 
Jhonpra, 68 

Mutiny, memorials of, 189-190; pro- 
vocative causes of, 190 

Nadir Shah, 151 

Naoroji, M. Dadabhi, welcome of, to 

Bombay, 46-47 
Naisirabad, 74 
Nelson, Lord, bust of, 260 
Nemnath, Jain pontiff, 131 
Nizam of Hyderabad, 36, 38 
Nizam-ud-din, cemetery of, 156-157 
Nunnoya, 303, 310 
Nuwara-Eliya, 302 ; scenery at, 304- 

305 ; the Magdala Gardens, 305- 

307 

Parsers — 

Burial place of, 30 
Merchant, description of, 24 
Weddings among, 28 
Parvati, goddess, 41, 109, 256 
Paul, Lieutenant, 198 
Perrim, 12, 314 
Picturesque India (W. S. Caine), 

quoted, 151 
Pillai, Mr, 277-278 
Pillour, 161 
Plague, bubonic, 141 
Ploughs, native, 74-75, 140 
Ploughman, native, earnings of, 140 
Poori, 241 
Port Said, 316 

Poverty of natives, 140-141, 143 
Prang, Mr Louis, and Mrs Prang, 

235-236 
Prosperous British India (Digby), 

cited, 141, 191 

Eai, Mr Laipat, 142 
Railway travelling in India — 

Facilities for, 48-49 ; native 

travellers, 70-72 
Rajpootana, 63, 77) 79 
Ra7nayana, i 
Rani Sipri, mosque of, 51 
Readymoney, Sir Cowasji Jehangir, 

29 
Red Sea, passage of, 11-12, 314 
Rena, s.s., 10 

Rhododendron, Cingalese, 306 
Rozah — 

Drive to, from Daulatabad, 36- 



324 



INDIA IMPRESSIONS 



37 ; description of a night at, 37- 

38 
Rubber trade of Ceylon, 308-310 
Russia, Czar of, 206, 282 
Ryot, Indian, average earnings of, 
141 

Said, Port, visit to, 5-9 

Salaams, custom as to, 73 

Sara, crossing the Ganges at, 223- 

224, 237 
Sarbarmati River, scenes on, 53-54, 

5^:59 

Sardinia, 4 

Sarkhai, excursion to, 58-61 

Saunders, Mr and Mrs, 197 

Scott, Mr Ross, 188, 198 

Schwartz, 259 

Scylla, 4 

Seringham — 

Religious procession at, 282 ; 
Temple of, 272-275 

Shaw, G. Bernard, 248 

Sheep, fat-tailed, 176 

Sicily, 4, 317 

Sidi Sayyid's Mosque, 51-52 

Sikandra, excursion to — tomb of 
Akbar, 122-125 

Sikhs, religious centre of, 166 

Silignis, 225-226 

Silk-weaving at — 

Ahmedabad, 55, 56 ; Viziana- 
gram, 244 ; Tanjore, 262 ; 
Madura, 285-286 

Silver Lake, 242 

Sinai, Mount, II 

Sindhia, 131 

Singh, Princess Duleep, 181-182 

Siva, god — 

Representations of, at Madura, 
278, 279, 280, 281, 283; sacred 
bull of, 255-256 ; sacred mark of, 
242, 253 ; otherwise mentioned, 
41, 109, 256 

Sketching, native interest in, 283- 
284 

Sorabji, Miss, 220 

Soumalis at Aden, 13-15 

South Kensington, Indian museum 
at, 52 

Spartivento, Cape, 4 

Squirrels, palm, 36, 59, 136 

Stromboli, 317 

Suez, call at, lo, 315 

Suez Canal, passage through 9-10, 
315-316 

Sun, eclipse of, 167 



Table decorations of Southern India, 
286 

Taj Mahal- 
Visit to, and account of, 114-118 j 
gardens of, I18-II9; compared 
with the Itmad-ud-Daulat, 120; 
moonlight visit to, 1 20-1 21 j 
sketches of, 121 

Tamils, 297 

Tanjore — 

Journey to, from Madras, 251- 
254 ; accommodation at, 254-255, 
269 ; the old fort and Hindu 
Temple, 255-258 ; religious pro- 
cession at, 258 ; Christian church 
at, 258-259 ; palace of the Maha- 
rajah, 259-261 ; description of — 
street scenes, etc., 261-264; de- 
cline of Western influence at, 
263 ; native theatre, 264-268 ; 
native pedlars — Tanjore crafts- 
manship, 268-269 ; water carry- 
ing, 270 

Taormina, 4 

Taragarh, Fort of, 67 

Tea, Ceylon, colour of beverage, 

305 

Tea plantations of Ceylon, 302-305 

Theatre, native, at Tanjore, 264-268 

Theosophical Society, headquarters, 
247 _ 

Threshing of grain, native methods, 
252 

Thull Ghat, 34 

Tibetan fat-tailed sheep, 176 

Tibetan masque at Darjeeling, 229- 
232 

Tiled mosques, 178 

7'oti!-ane, 5.^., 313 

Trinchinopoly — ■ 

Arrival at — general impressions, 
270-272, 275 ; visit to the temple 
of Seringham, 272-275; the 
Rock of Trinchinopoly, 275 

Tuticorin, 287-289 

"Twelve Apostles, The," 12 

Udaipur — 

Native group from, 76 ; journey 
to, from Chitorgarh, 82-83; 
hotel experiences, 83-84 ; place 
of tombs, S5-86 ; palace of the 
Maharajah, 87-88 ; excursion to 
the palace of jagmandin, 88-91 ;- 
feeding of the Maharajah's wild 
pigs, 91-92; the Maharajah's 
gardens, 93 ; Victoria Institute, 



INDEX 



i25 



93 ; departure from — the station, 

94-95 
Umballa, i6i, 183 

ViLLUPARAM, 254 
Vishnu, 86, 272, 273 
Vizianagram, 244 

Voyages out and home, descriptions 
of, 1-20, 313-317 

Wales, Prince and Princess, 167, 

206, 282 
Waltair, 244 



Water filter and water bearers at 

railway stations, 75 
Watts, G. F., 76 
Wax, raised designs of, on textiles, 

179 
Webb, Sidney, 248 
Wedding processions in Bombay, 27- 

28 
Western civilisation, questionable 

value of, 94, 308-310 
Women, native, costumes of, 105, 

174-175 

Zebu bulls, 256, 280 



yRINTEU BY 

TUKNBULL AND SPEARS, 

EDINBURGH 



1908 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 






003 919 029 1 



